


like a comet pulled from orbit

by HufflepuffChildOfApollo



Series: is there a way back home? [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (Sort of? He hasn't actually done anything bad yet, Air Nomad Genocide (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Credit to Muffinlance for the Akhlut and crew, Drinking, Earthbender Jin (Avatar), Fluff and Angst, Fun fact! This fic is a self-indulgent Mess™, Gen, God I hate Ozai with a burning passion, Goose-goat hybrid, Hakoda's Perpetual Headache, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Jet (Avatar) Redemption, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Parental Hakoda (Avatar), Past Child Abuse, Protective Azula (Avatar), Southern Water Tribe, Underage Drinking, Unreliable Narrator, Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko's Angst Coma™, Zuko's luck is the actual worst, also Jet is here for a bit so that's fun, can't believe i forgot that tag, so. Is it really redemption?), teenagers being dumb, those two tags may be related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 50,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26633836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HufflepuffChildOfApollo/pseuds/HufflepuffChildOfApollo
Summary: A Water Tribe ship's small crew must come to terms with the fact that their prisoner isn't a prisoner anymore, and the Fire Prince must come to terms with the fact he's neither a prisoner nor a Prince anymore.Sequel and direct continuation of 'you'll find that i'm unshakeable'.
Relationships: Bato & Hakoda (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Jin & Zuko (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar), Jin & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) & Original Character(s)
Series: is there a way back home? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937566
Comments: 1165
Kudos: 1362





	1. 1; 'aww, Zuko has a sister, how cute — NOPE. NOT CUTE.'

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to MuffinLance for the Akhlut and its crew
> 
> Title is from 'For Good' from Wicked.

There were three letters on Hakoda's desk; one was already open, marked with the Firelord's seal and addressed to Zuko. Hakoda had read it uncountable times, and still couldn't fathom how a man could be so _cruel_ to his own son. Why Zuko would _want_ to go _back_ to that —

He shook his head, picking up the other letter. He hadn't opened it yet, but it was addressed directly to him. The Fire Nation insignia on the seal made him nervous to open it, but he was going to have to rip off the elbow leech at some point. 

He bit his lip, untied the ribbon and broke the seal. 

_To Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe;_

_I don't know how my idiot brother managed to stumble into your clutches, but I can assure you that if you're after a ransom, you're barking up the wrong tree. The Fire Lord does not change his mind lightly, and the terms of Zuko's banishment were clear. Unless you have the Avatar on the hunk of driftwood you call a ship, you can consider your waterbenders as good as dead._

_As for my brother; whatever injuries he sustained must be serious if he hasn't tried to fight you (and believe me, if he had, he would have made sure my Father knew of it; Zuko's nothing if not a people pleaser). If I find out it was you or any of your crew who caused such an injury, I will not hesitate to track your ship, and burn it to the waves. Zuko may be banished, but he is no less a member of the Royal Family. _

_If it's not true that Southern peasants can't read, and you've managed to read to the end of this, tell Zuzu I said hello, and that I expect him to write back._

_Regards,_

_Azula,_

_Crown Princess of the Fire Nation and Heir to Fire Lord Ozai_

Hakoda frowned. Zuko had mentioned a sister, but Hakoda hadn't given it much thought; now he regretted that. If she took after her father, he doubted her threats were mere bluffing. 

He turned his attention to the third letter; it, too, had the Fire Nation insignia, and was addressed to Zuko. It had come in yesterday, on yet another strange mole-bird, which was now perched on the mast with the other. He resisted the impulse, multiple times, to open it and find out who had written it, and why. 

_It's Zuko's business. You're more mature than this, Hakoda._

He put the letters in a drawer, standing up, and went out on the deck and trying to ignore how oddly quiet it was — how quiet it had been since the younger crewmembers had left. 

He also tried to ignore how he now thought of Zuko as a member of the crew. When had _that_ happened?

 _Probably around the time you decided to throw caution to the wind and kidnap him back from Admiral Jie._

He looked up at the mountains to the right of the ship, and wondered how the expedition was going. He'd been reluctant to allow it — it took time away from getting to Chameleon Bay, and it wasn't like he _wanted_ Zuko to find the Avatar, but Panuk made a convincing argument in favor of it. The information they might find up there would make a useful bargaining tool, if nothing else. 

_I hope those kids are doing fine._

~

Zuko was not doing fine. He thought he did an okay job of _acting_ like it, as he led Bato and the others up the stairs, and pointed out the door (Toklo hadn't let him go inside again, thank Agni). But he was not fine, and right now the only thing keeping him from breaking down in tears was running through katas in his head to distract himself.

Akela came out of the room, sighing heavily and leaning against the wall across from him.

"You doing okay, kid?" she asked, sounding tired. 

"I'm fine," he lied. 

"You sure?" She glanced back in the direction of the door. "What's in there...I can't imagine going in there and seeing that without _knowing_ what's in there beforehand. That had to be a pretty bad shock."

 _There's an understatement,_ he thought. "I'm _fine."_

She held up her hands defensively. "Okay. Sorry." She slid down the wall to sit on the floor. She picked at a spot on her coat, clearly deep in thought; it surprised him when she looked up, looking him right in the eyes. 

"You really didn't know," she said. It wasn't a question, but Zuko nodded. Akela shook her head, closing her eyes. 

"Of course. Why would you?"

Zuko frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, why would the Fire Lord tell anyone they'd killed a race of pacifists?" She gestured vaguely toward the door, her eyes still closed. "You people are all about _honor,_ right? And strength. Nobody's going to believe in that if the only thing they've conquered is a bunch of vegetarian monks." 

Zuko scowled. "My father wouldn't lie to the whole country." 

Akela opened her eyes slightly. "Your father lied to _you_ , his own son."

"My father isn't the one who taught me!" Zuko argued. "My teachers were wrong." 

"You think the teachers aren't just teaching what the Fire Lord tells them to?"

 _Father wouldn't lie to you,_ part of him still argued. _He wouldn't do that._

 _But_...

The history tutors who'd taught him about the Air Nomads' defeat _(slaughter,_ he corrected himself) were the same ones Azula had now. Father wouldn't allow them to teach her if he didn't think they were the very best. 

And they'd lied. And Father had let them. 

Zuko could feel tears choking him, and tried to control his breathing, distracting himself with the katas — if he could just think about the firebending, and not the _fire_ , and burning, and tiny skulls covered with black marks —

How many other horrible things had the Fire Nation — _his people —_ done, for the sake of _lies?_

Jin had talked about earthbenders in her town being taken to prisons. Chief Hakoda had wanted to exchange Zuko for imprisoned waterbenders. Even Heng had said all the Fire Nation did when they showed up was steal and hurt people and take away earthbenders. 

Zuko had thought those things must be enemy propaganda, that the benders who'd been imprisoned must have done something wrong. 

Now, as he tried not to hear the discussion going on in the other room, of what to do with the bodies, the bodies of _kids,_ some of them _babies,_ even — he found it too easy to believe all those things he'd heard. He'd seen the proof.

_The whole world thinks we're monsters._

_And they're **right**._


	2. 2; 'maybe the real honor was the angst coma we found along the way?'

The wind felt even colder tonight. Zuko pitied the others, who'd had to bathe after carrying the remains away to wherever it was they took them; he didn't know what they'd done with them, and he didn't ask.

Jin had stayed with him instead of going to help, saying she didn't want him to be alone. He'd argued that he'd be fine on his own, but she'd sat down and started separating the parts of the jasmine she'd found growing in the woods, after checking and double-checking again to make sure it really was jasmine and not something poisonous. 

The tea she'd made after everyone got back tasted bitter and way too strong, nothing like Uncle's, but maybe that was better; if it had been like Uncle's, he might get homesick, and start crying again. He really didn't feel like crying in front of everyone. Though, now that he'd had that thought, he felt homesick _anyway._

Was it _wrong_ to feel homesick for a place full of people who'd murdered and hurt so many people, all for the sake of power? 

And Uncle — Zuko recalled with a chill of horror that Uncle had gleefully written to them, only a couple years ago, about conquering the city of Ba Sing Se, and _joked_ about burning it to the ground. 

Zuko put down his cup, suddenly no longer wanting his tea. 

_Uncle **knew** about this. All of this! He was in line to be Fire Lord, he was a General. How could he **not** know? He kept it from me!_

He looked around the fire at the others. _Why have these people, who are supposed to be the **enemy,** been more honest than my own **family?**_

Zuko felt dizzy, and sick, and like he needed to be alone to _stop_ _thinking_. He mumbled a 'good-night' and stood up —

The next moment he was on his knees, spots swimming in his vision. He could hear muffled voices, but couldn't make out any words. 

Everything went black. 

~

Toklo had managed to catch Zuko and prevent him from falling on his face, but that didn't answer the question of _what was wrong with him?_

Akela had looked Zuko over. She couldn't figure out what was wrong. His heart was racing, and he was burning up — more than usual. _Fever_ burning-up, not just firebender burning-up. 

Since he wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway, Toklo stayed up to keep an eye on Zuko. So far he hadn't woken up except for about two minutes, wherein he'd drunk half a bucket of water and called Toklo 'mom', which was a pretty clear sign that Zuko was not doing great. 

At least it wasn't raining again, like it had on their second night coming up the mountain. That would be a nightmare, though he did briefly wonder if, were Zuko to contract hypothermia from the cold water, that and the fever would cancel each other out. 

He'd have to ask Akela later, if this didn't correct itself. 

He really, really hoped it would correct itself. He didn't feel like carrying Zuko down the mountain, and if Zuko _did_ need carried down the mountain, he sure wasn't letting _Akela_ do it. 

He looked down at Zuko's (pale, sweaty, ugly-ponytail-having) head in his lap. "You'd better not make me carry you down the mountain." 

Zuko didn't say anything, because he was unconscious. Toklo sighed, patting his shoulder. 

"Get well soon, bud," he whispered. 

~

_Zuko's footsteps were silent as he walked through the corridor. The light of the torches didn't reach past the pillars to either side of him, and things he couldn't quite see moved in the shadows._

_Tall, red doors loomed over him at the end of the hall, seeming to grow larger with every step forward. They opened at a gentle push._

_The torches and the sun were blinding, reflected on the light stone of the pillars. Seats rose_ _in tiers all the way to the walls, full of faceless spectators._

_He took a breath and turned to face his opponent; he froze in shock._

_The Fire Lord stood over him, holding a burning skull in his hands and smiling coldly as ashes drifted away in the wind._ _More bones lay at his feet, all scorched black. Zuko's footsteps left bare spots in the ash that covered the floor, allowing the stone tiles to show through._

_As he drew closer, he recognized small objects scattered among the bones; a ring of braided wire Jin wore around her wrist. A severed braid strung with colored beads, the same ones Toklo wore. A knife, a necklace, a delicately carved bead..._

_A teacup, smashed to pieces —_

_Uncle._

_And a hairpiece shaped like a golden curl of flame._

**_Mom._ **

_"You see, Prince Zuko, what happens to those who oppose the Fire Lord."_

_Zuko sank to his knees, shaking, his eyes refusing to leave the carnage in front of him; the smell of ash in the air made his lungs ache._

_A hand curled under his chin, tilting his face upwards. The other hand laid on his cheek, almost in a caress._

_The flames didn't stop at his face this time._


	3. 3; 'sometimes we have to make sacrifices; sometimes those sacrifices just involve not shaving around your dumb ponytail'

They packed up and headed back down the mountain on the second day of Zuko's mystery illness. The thin air and the cold weren't doing his health any favors, and they only had five days left out of their allotted two weeks; this would have been a decent amount of time, if not for the unconscious firebender they had to haul down the mountain. They got up earlier and set up camp later every day to make up for the lost time. 

It took all of their five days to reach the bottom of the mountain, and they were all glad to set up camp on land they weren't in danger of wandering off of in the dark. 

Jin sat by the fire, stirring the soup she and Bato had made using the game he and Toklo had caught. Across the campsite, Akela was leaned against a tree with Zuko's head on her lap, twisting and braiding strands of his ponytail while humming. Jin wondered if that was something she did with her little brother at home, or someone had done it with her. 

Jin didn't recognize the song she was humming, but it sounded calming. She hoped Zuko thought so too, if he could hear it. He seemed to be doing a little better than yesterday, at least, but Akela still hadn't managed to find out what was making him ill. Hopefully Kustaa would know. 

Jin gave the soup a couple more stirs. "I think it's done." She ladled some into a bowl and took it over to Akela, who set it on the ground next to her and tapped Zuko's shoulder. 

Zuko blinked open glassy eyes, his gaze darting between Jin and Akela. The latter wrapped an arm behind his shoulders, shifting him to a sitting position. He made a weak attempt at pushing her arm off, before muttering something to himself and lowering his hands. 

"You awake, pal?" Akela asked, picking up the bowl. Zuko huffed, which didn't answer the question at all, but took the bowl when she offered it, ignoring her other offering of a spoon and just sipping the broth. 

"You feeling alright?" Jin asked.

Zuko looked at her, using the back of his sleeve to wipe off the little moustache of broth over his lip. "Where are we?" 

"We reached the bottom of the mountain a couple hours ago. The ship will be here tomorrow."

His gaze darted around the campsite, his good eye growing wide. "Where's Toklo? And Bato?" 

"They're at the creek," Akela answered, running her hand through his hair to calm him; for some reason, every time he'd woken up for the past few days he'd demanded to know where everyone was, if he couldn't see them at a first glance. Jin could only guess where the sudden heightened sense of concern had come from. 

"What are they doing there?"

"Cleaning their knives. Probably talking about manly stuff," Jin guessed. "They're fine. They'll be back in five minutes." 

Zuko nodded slowly and settled down slightly, finishing half his soup before putting down the bowl. "Can I have water?" he asked, leaning back on the tree. Jin sighed, handing him the bucket; they'd given up on trying to get him to drink from a cup two days ago. Half the water ended up on his clothes anyway. 

"How are you feeling?" Akela asked, taking the bucket away once it was empty. Zuko groaned quietly in response. 

"Tired. Sick."

"Get some more sleep, okay? You'll feel better in the morning."

He huffed, in a _yeah right_ kind of way. "Sure."

"Just do it." 

~

Zuko had been half-conscious when the expedition team brought him back; he evidently had been mostly unconscious for the past six days while they carried him down the mountain. 

In hindsight, Hakoda should have seen this coming. _'Let's send him up the mountain! What could go wrong?'_

 _A lot, apparently_ , Hakoda mused, tapping his fingers on the desk. Kustaa and Akela were in the infirmary, trying to figure out what in La's name was wrong with the kid. Going by the frustrated growls, and loud sounds of books slamming shut, it wasn't going well. 

Jin and Toklo sat on Zuko's bunk, while Bato stood in front of the desk, upon which was piled ten or so dusty, faded scrolls. Hakoda sighed, looking away from the scrolls. 

"How many did you find?" 

They both knew he wasn't talking about scrolls. 

"Around two dozen," Bato answered. 

Hakoda felt nauseous, but tried not to show it. "Were they —"

"They were burned." Toklo spoke, scowling, at the floor. "They were all so..."

"So _little,"_ Jin finished for him. "Little kids, and babies..."

"Zuko...was the one who found them," Bato said. "He didn't even know about...what Sozin's forces had done. Not fully, anyway."

 _And he learned of it in the worst way possible._ Hakoda sighed, lowering his face into his hand. _I shouldn't have let this happen._

"Jin, Toklo, you can go clean up, and get some food and rest."

THe two teens nodded, standing and walking together to the kitchen. Hakoda waited until they were gone to lower his forehead onto the desk. 

"Bato?"

"Yes?" 

"Talk me out of this kind of thing from now on." 

"I'll try."

~

Zuko awoke looking up at a familiar wood ceiling, and could have cried with relief. And wasn't that just the icing on the treasonous cake, being _relieved_ to be back with his captors? 

Only they weren't his captors anymore, were they? They'd done so much for him, at this point he didn't know _what_ he was to them.

He raised his head, and found himself in a familiar small room. The infirmary was more well-stocked last time he'd woken up there, but thankfully it was warmer now. There was a distinctly _un_ familiar weight at the back of his head, and when he reached up he found the hair separated into smaller braids. _Who did that?_ he wondered.

He sat up, wincing at the pain in his head at the sudden movement. His mouth felt dry, and his stomach hurt. _When was the last time I ate?_ He vaguely remembered some kind of soup, but when was that? Last night? Before that? He remembered being dragged back onto the ship _(Thanks, Ranalok. That was a real pleasant experience),_ but he'd passed out pretty soon after that. Zuko didn't know how long he'd been out. 

It didn't feel like he was about to pass out again, so he climbed out of bed. The clothes he was wearing stuck to his skin with sweat, and he dreaded the inevitable bath he was going to have to take. _At least it's not my turn to wash on laundry day._

Passing by the mirror on the wall, he paused — he never looked at mirrors if he could help it, but something looked wrong. It took him a second to realize what it was, and he felt like he should have expected it — he hadn't had any time to shave during the trek up the mountain, and obviously he hadn't while he was unconscious, but it was a little jarring to see the quarter-inch of fuzz grown all over his head, around the (now elaborately braided) ponytail. 

He sighed, running a hand over the new growth; it felt strange, and slightly prickly. 

_I guess I had to start growing it at some point._ He smiled a little, the expression looking out of place on his reflection. _Can't be getting recognized as Fire Nation at every port._

He sighed, turning away from the mirror, and grasped the handle of the door. 

_At least it won't look any more stupid than it did before._

He opened the door and stepped out on the deck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a pain and a half to get written and it took forever because I did a lot of rewriting, but hopefully I'll be back to the regular update schedule after this! I'm still figuring out where I wanna go plot-wise now, but I know what I'm doing for my next chapter at least! Hopefully I'll get back to longer chapters too.


	4. 4; 'I don't think that's how the song goes, but whatever.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stupid Teenage Shenanigans: Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for underage (and not-underage) drinking

Zuko's miraculous recovery was regarded with amazement by everyone onboard the _Akhlut;_ mostly Kustaa, who still didn't know the reason for the illness in the first place. Zuko himself chalked it up to the cold air and altitude, and got weirdly evasive whenever it was brought up. 

The expedition team all got a few days off regular duties to rest and recover from the strain of climbing up and down a mountain. Bato was the only one who actually used the time for _rest_ , however. 

"Are you _sure_ this is allowed?" Zuko asked, looking nervously at the stairs leading to the belowdeck cabins. Toklo snorted, already halfway down. 

"Allowed, schmowed. I'm not giving up my sleep to _follow the_ _rules."_ He looked down the stairs. "Hey, Akela, you ever end up finding that 'medical' liquor?"

From the bottom of the stairs, Akela grinned. "Better! Panuk, show 'em." 

Panuk proudly held up a bottle in each hand. Even from this distance Zuko could see **'Tuluk's, Do Not Touch, That Means You, Panuk'** written on paper glued to the bottles. 

They were all gonna be _executed_ if they got caught. Tuluk was a man who didn't take thievery lightly.

"Yes!" Jin whisper-exclaimed, and for a second he was concerned that she had 1: read his mind and 2: was excited about the prospect of being murdered. He mentally kicked himself when he realized her enthusiasm was about the pilfered rum. 

"I don't know if this is a good idea," he said.

"A bad idea is just a good idea in disguise," Toklo said, ruffling Zuko's hair; thankfully it was still too short for the action to do any damage. 

"That's not how it works," Zuko grumbled, following the older boy down the stairs. 

The belowdeck cabins were more spacious than the quarters they slept in, and Zuko felt a little cheated. Toklo, evidently, was thinking the same thing. 

"You could fit so many flippin' hammocks in this bad boy!" he smacked the wall affectionately(?). 

"You're weird, Toklo," Jin said, sitting on one of the wall bunks. "Pass me a bottle, Akela?"

"Ah-ah. You're getting it watered down." Akela opened a bottle and pulled a half-empty jug of water over from the corner. "I'll get thrown off the boat if you die of alcohol poisoning on my watch." 

Jin huffed, crossing her arms. Zuko sat down on the floor, leaning back against her legs and trying not to resent the way she reached down to scratch his head like he was a cat or something. Yuki tumbled down the stairs, and scampered over to immediately start chewing on the short sleeve of his tunic. 

"Gross," Toklo remarked, settling down across from Zuko and accepting a cup of watered-down rum from Akela. "You're gonna need a whole new wardrobe if you let her chew on you like that." 

"Shut up, Toklo." Zuko could feel Jin messing with his ponytail now, and hoped she wasn't doing another huge braid like she had before. He wanted to move his head without being whacked in the face, thank you very much. 

Panuk sauntered in through a side door Zuko hadn't noticed, messing with the tuning keys on a small, stringed instrument. Akela groaned. 

"Ugh, Panuk! I thought you left that _thing_ at home!" 

"I would never!" Panuk looked scandalized, cradling the instrument like a baby. "Panuk the Second is my _child._ I wouldn't _abandon_ it." 

"You're such an idiot." Akela opened the other bottle of rum, taking a swig right out of the bottle. "Wait 'til I've passed out before you start playing that thing." 

Panuk raised an eyebrow, strumming once and sitting down. "Anyone know any good songs?" 

"None I'm gonna sing around the mini-gremlins." Akela gestured with her bottle, vaguely in Zuko and Jin's direction. 

"What about you, Zuko?" Toklo smiled, tossing an empty cup to Zuko; he caught it, taking the slightly-more-age-appropriate bottle and filling the cup. 

"Mostly just Fire Nation songs. And a couple Earth Kingdom ones Uncle knew."

"Oh, which ones?" Jin slid onto the floor.

Zuko took a drink of his rum, blinking at the strong taste. _That's a little gross._ "That one about the tunnel. I don't know all the words to that, though."

"Ooh, that one's good! What else?" Jin took the bottle from him, taking a large drink and looking completely unbothered. 

"Uh... _Girls From Ba Sing Se."_

Jin suddenly spluttered, coughing into her elbow with a red face. Zuko stared at her, baffled. 

"Are you...okay?" 

She nodded, wiping her nose and grinning. "My Aunt used to change the words to that one."

A memory surfaced from the back of Zuko's mind, and he stifled an un-Princely, childish giggle. 

"So did my cousin."

Panuk raised an eyebrow. "How's the song go?" 

Jin smiled. _"It's a long, long, way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty..."_

"What'd your Aunt change the lyrics to?" Zuko asked. Lu Ten had taught him _several_ different versions behind Mom's and Uncle's backs.

"Well, the rhyme for 'city' is a little different," Jin answered, biting her lip. Her cheeks took on a pink tint. 

"What is it?" Akela asked, eyeing her suspiciously. Jin smiled sheepishly, cupping her hands a couple inches away from her chest. 

The effects were immediate; Toklo choked on his drink, cackling, and Zuko had to bury his face in the crook of his arm to cover his own mirth. Panuk grinned, his shoulders shaking with barely-held-in laughter. 

Akela was silent for a long moment, staring at Jin with narrowed eyes. Her expression as inscrutable and shrewd as one of Azula's. 

Then the corner of her lip quirked upward, a snicker fighting its way out. 

"You never said your relatives were funny." 

Jin smiled. "Wait until you hear the _rest_ of the song."

Panuk grinned. "Give me five minutes to learn the notes." 

Zuko figured five minutes was enough to talk with Jin and find out how many of Lu Ten's lyrics matched up with hers. 


	5. 5; 'hand soup is grand soup'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stupid Teenage Shenanigans: Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Underage drinking warning applies to this chapter too

Toklo's sheer _glee_ upon his discovery that Little Brother could not only _sing,_ but had a sense of _humor_ after Toklo's own, was too great to be expressed with mere words.

He expressed it instead with enthusiastic applause as the song ended. Jin and Zuko's duet was a little more fast-paced than Jin's initial recitation of the song, and they were both a little winded after it was over; Toklo wasn't surprised. Putting together their two different versions of the song, there were ten verses in all — full to the brim with phrases and words that would've made Toklo's grandmother sit the pair of them down with bars of soap in their mouths.

Panuk laid down his lute, cracking his knuckles and stretching his fingers. "Who wants to take over and pick the next activity?" 

Zuko shrugged one shoulder, making grabby-hands at the bottle Toklo had (the Sissy Bottle, as Toklo had decided to call it; Akela wouldn't share the other one) and leaning on Jin's shoulder. Toklo handed over the Sissy Bottle. 

"We could play a game," Jin suggested, holding her cup out to Zuko. He filled it up once he was done filling his, eyeing her with a look like he was trying hard not to scowl.

"What kind of game? I'm _not_ doing anything that involves closets. Or rope." 

Toklo guessed that response had something to do with Zuko's sister. She seemed like a whole bag of _'Yikes!'_ with a cherry on top. He could see a sister like that locking someone in a closet (possibly tied up). 

"And no kissing, either," Zuko added after a moment.

"What? Gross. No kissing _allowed_ in this room." Akela frowned over the rim of her cup. "You're all too young."

"You're not the boss of us," Jin grumbled. 

"Don't mind Akela." Panuk snatched the Not-Sissy Bottle from Akela, pouring himself a cup. "She's salty because she's never kissed anyone."

"Lies. Lies and slander." Akela huffed. "I kissed Anjij."

Panuk huffed. "Doesn't count, I kissed her first."

"That's not how it works, idiot." 

"I'm not an idiot —"

Toklo sighed as the cousins' conversation escalated into a childish squabble. _I thought they were supposed to be the adults here._

 _"I wish to change the subject,"_ Zuko announced loudly and dramatically over the argument. Panuk and Akela rolled their eyes in sync and kept up their drunken bickering. 

Toklo got up and sat back down next to Zuko, who was now sprawled on his back on the floor. "Don't bother, bud. They'll keep this going all night." 

Zuko groaned.

"You wanna go raid the kitchen?"

Zuko groaned again, but in less of an _'Ugh, please let me die'_ kind of way and more of an _'Ugh, yes, I need food'_ kind of way.

If Toklo ever got to settle down for a while, he was going to write a book on interpreting the various noises of firebenders. 

"C'mon, let's get some soup in ya." Toklo clapped Zuko on the shoulder, standing up. Jin stood and pulled Zuko up with her, as well as picking up the Sissy Bottle. 

"Soup," Zuko grumbled agreeably. He fixed Toklo with a narrow-eyed stare. "With bread?"

Why not? How hard could it be to make some bread? "Sure, buddy."

~

Zuko didn't count on it being this hard to make bread, but he wasn't about to admit it. At least he wasn't having Jin's problems.

"Guys, I can't get the stove open to light it. I think the soup's gonna have to be cold."

Toklo looked up from the pot full of vegetables and seaweed he was stirring. "Zuko can heat it. Can't you?"

Zuko thought for a minute. "That pot's too big," he pointed out. 

"You could put your hands in it, like with the laundry?" Jin suggested.

"I don't think I'd get it cooked all the way through. In case you haven't noticed..." Zuko wasn't sure what they were supposed to have noticed. Eh, he could make something up. "...Making soup hot is harder than making laundry water warm."

"Right, right..." Toklo gained a thoughtful expression, before his eyes widened. "I've got it! We can just pour the soup into your hands, and heat it a little at a time!" 

Zuko paused in kneading the (rather gooey) bread dough.

"...I think I can do that."

~

Hakoda had been able to ignore the clanging. It was normal for someone to stumble and knock over a pot while getting a drink at night. The kitchen was dark. 

Except it _wasn't_ dark right now; light was seeping through the cracks above and below the door. Someone had lit the lanterns in there. It was easy enough to ignore that, too. Maybe someone had lost something.

But then the clattering, and the splashing, and the talking just _did not stop, for Tui's sake **what is going on in there?**_

He rolled out of his hammock, muttering curses under his breath, and pushed open the door. 

"— The bowl, quick! It's about to boil over!" Zuko sounded panicky, staring at the steaming, bubbly... _soup?_ cupped between his bare hands. 

"Here!" Jin leaned across the table, shoving a bowl full of _more_ soup towards him. Zuko dropped the liquid in his hands into the bowl. 

"More coming up!" Toklo leaned over and dumped a ladleful of soup into Zuko's outstretched hands. Zuko's face scrunched up with concentration, steam rising from his hands. 

"What in La's name?" was all Hakoda could summon presence of mind to say. 

Three startled shouts rang out, followed by some creative cursing as the soup in Zuko's hands ended up on the floor. 

"Chief! Hakoda! Sir! We were doing soup," Zuko explained hurriedly. 

Hakoda bit his lip and tried not to remark _'I can see that,'_ noting the slightly bloodshot eyes and flushed faces of all three teens, and the nearly-empty bottle on the table. _I'll have to tell Tuluk to lock up his rum more securely,_ he thought. 

"Why aren't you using the stove?" he asked, because any lecture he could give would have to wait until the teens were sober enough to absorb it.

"Because hand soup is grand soup," Toklo answered serenely with a straight face. He picked up his ladle and started scooping more soup out of the pot. Zuko held out his hands like this was a normal occurrence. 

"I couldn't open the stove to light it," Jin answered seriously, picking a piece off the large ball of goopy dough in front of her and popping it in her mouth. 

"I see. And why not just heat the soup in the pot?"

"Warm laundry soup is easier than hot food soup," Zuko answered, heating his hands again. 

_You did this to yourself, Hakoda. You remember how **you** were as a teenager? This is payback from the universe._

Hakoda sighed, running a hand through his hair _._ There wasn't much he could do with this situation, and he knew it. 

"Try and be a little quieter, alright?" he requested. "And clean up once you're done."

"Yes, sir, Chief Hakoda!" Zuko turned to bow deeply, his hands dripping soup all over the floor as he held one hand vertical, the other in a fist beneath it. 

Hakoda just nodded, giving his best polite smile, before turning around and walking back to his hammock. Maybe in the morning he'd wake up and find out he'd dreamed all of this. 

_Yeah, right,_ his brain pointed out. _When has your luck ever been that good?_

Hakoda told his brain to shut up, and buried his face in the covers. 


	6. 6; 'three bros chillin' in a room-temperature tub, zero feet apart'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want y'all to know that writing the soup chapter made me really want soup, which I don't even know how to make

The soup mess was still on the kitchen floor in the morning.

The kids were not. Hakoda followed a trail of soupy footprints to the washroom, and found all three of them asleep, piled in a half-filled tub (thankfully, clothed — although Toklo seemed to be missing his shirt), with the large bowl of soup precariously balanced on Zuko's lap. Zuko's goose-goat was perched in Jin's lap, neck extended freakishly as she ate out of the bowl.

Bato's footsteps announced his presence for him as he came up behind Hakoda, peering into the washroom. "Need me to get the mop?" 

Hakoda sighed. "It'd probably be mean to make the kids clean up while they're hungover, right?"

"Eh."

Hakoda took that to mean _'yes, but you could still do it anyways.'_

"Get the mop," he ordered. 

"Sure."

~

Zuko didn't remember a lot after going to the kitchen.

He was pretty sure they'd ended up making soup, judging by the large but half-empty bowl of soup in his lap. It had made a mess, judging by the soup stains on his clothes.

He and his _(idiot)_ friends had decided to take a bath, judging by the fact he and his _(idiot)_ friends were in a half-filled laundry tub. They'd at least retained a little modesty _(thank Agni)_ judging by their still-mostly-clothed states (Toklo's shirt was missing, but Toklo tended to look for excuses to lose his shirts even while sober).

And Zuko had drank a _lot,_ judging by the pounding headache he had. Or maybe he was just a lightweight. He wasn't doing it again to find out. 

Jin was halfway on top of him. Yuki was on her lap, chewing one of Jin's braids without a care in the world. Zuko watched the little goose-goat with envy. He didn't particularly want to chew on anyone's hair — that actually sounded really, really gross — but not having a headache sounded nice. 

The cold water he was currently partially submerged in was decidedly not nice. Having Toklo's knee jammed into his back was not nice. Jin's elbow in his armpit wasn't super fun either. 

Zuko shifted, and the soup in his lap also shifted, and he barely managed to catch it before it all spilled. _How did my life come to this point?_

Before he could get lost in contemplating the downward spiral of his life, the door opened behind him. 

Zuko turned around, and felt the blood drain out of his face (which did nothing to help his headache). 

_Oh, no..._

He did his best to act like he knew what he was doing, plastering on his best fake smile. 

"Good morning, Chief Hakoda."

~

Zuko, Jin and Toklo were laying on various surfaces on the deck, sleeping off a hangover after being evicted from the washroom. Panuk and Akela were in the Chief's office, and Bato could hear Hakoda lecturing them through the walls. 

_Having kids must change a person,_ Bato mused; he recalled several escapades similar to this in his and Hakoda's youth, usually with Hakoda as ringleader. 

The lecturing seemed to be over, and Hakoda walked out, followed by Panuk and Akela, both looking like they were trying hard not to smile. Bato thought he even saw them high-five each other. Smug little brats.

"Zuko," Hakoda said, walking over to the snoozing firebender and tapping on the wooden crate the boy was sleeping on. Zuko groaned quietly, lifting his head. 

"Bato? 'Zat you?"

"It's Hakoda," Hakoda said, with more patience than Bato was aware he had. "There's something I want to talk with you about."

Zuko snapped to attention, rolling off the other side of the crate and out of sight. He popped back up, face flushed. 

"Sir?" 

"May I speak with you about something?" Hakoda asked calmly. 

Zuko's brow furrowed, worry flashing across his face. He squared his shoulders, nodding once, sharply. 

"Yes, sir."


	7. 7; 'Pa-koda is born (but only in Hakoda's head)'

Zuko tried not to be nervous as he followed the Chief into the crew cabin; he hadn't done anything wrong (that he knew of), so what would the Chief want to speak with him about?

Whatever it was must not be _that_ bad — Panuk and Akela had been lectured in Chief Hakoda's office. It was early enough that some of the sailors were still asleep, and Hakoda hadn't wanted to disturb them. 

"I was waiting until you were done recovering to speak with you about this. Evidently you're well enough, though." The Chief sat down behind his desk, reaching into a drawer.

Zuko stayed on his feet, for lack of a place to sit, and waited with bated breath as Chief Hakoda slid two scrolls across the desk; one open already and addressed to the Chief. The other still sealed...

And addressed to _Zuko._

"Your sister wrote," the Chief continued speaking. "She seemed..." He paused, as if considering what to say, "...concerned, let's say, for your well-being." He pushed the opened scroll toward Zuko. 

_Azula wrote?_ Zuko thought, perplexed. He picked up the letter, unrolling it and preparing himself for what his sister might have said.

He was...surprised. The letter was blunt, but not inherently hostile — a little too blunt, perhaps, definitely heavy on threats, and not very polite, but that was Azula for you. 

The surprising part was that, in some twisted way, it almost seemed like Azula _cared_ about what happened to Zuko. 

She even asked for him to write _back._

Zuko rolled the letter up, setting it down, and nodded. "Okay?" he said, looking at Hakoda. The Chief looked back at him strangely. 

" _'Okay?'_ " he repeated incredulously. 

Zuko wasn't sure what Chief Hakoda wanted him to say. "She was telling the truth?" he tried. "She probably doesn't know I let you read Dad's letter, so she's just letting you know the terms of my banishment."

"What about...this?" Hakoda pointed to the second part of the letter — specifically the part where Azula threatened to, quote, _'burn [the ship] to the waves.'_ Zuko grimaced. 

"I don't think she'll actually do that," he said. "I'll let her know I'm being treated well, and it should be fine. I doubt she'll even write again." 

_I don't know why she wrote in the first place,_ he didn't say. The Chief nodded, pushing forward the other letter. The one addressed directly to Zuko.

"This came a couple days after your sister's."

Zuko frowned, looking at the handwriting — it looked so familiar, but where...?

**_Uncle._**

He snatched up the letter, nearly tearing the paper in his eagerness to break the seal, his heart beating in his ears as he read it. 

_My dearest Nephew,_

_I am very happy to hear that you are alive and well. You gave this old man quite a scare. It is fortunate that the Water Tribe warriors were in just the right place, at the right time._

_Are you still with the Water Tribe? If so, I hope you are being treated well; if not, only send word. I will spare no expense in finding you and helping you out of any trouble you find yourself in. The_ Wani _may be old, but she is not so old that she cannot catch up with a Water Tribe sailship._

_If you are indeed still on the ship (not by your own choosing, that is), I would be grateful if you passed the enclosed letter on to the captain; in it is a formal request for your release. If you are not on the ship, or at least not captive, hang on to it in case you run into any trouble with Earth Kingdom authorities._

(Zuko had been wondering what the extra sheet of paper was. _That would have come in handy on that Earth Kingdom ship,_ he thought as he pocketed it.)

 _In regards to your firebending, Prince Zuko; I do not blame you for not being able to practice. Even a master must take time to rest and recover after an illness or injury. However,_ _suppressing your bending creates its own set of problems, and can cause health issues and spiritual disharmony within you. If you cannot bend actual fire, I suggest finding another outlet for your inner fire — controlling the temperature of water is often used as a practice method, and unless the captain is unreasonable, I'm sure you will be allowed._

_This letter will likely reach you late, as your letter took longer to reach me than you likely thought it would, for I had only just started to sail home by the date on your letter, for we were running low on supplies. We have since restocked, and are headed east. I hope to see you again, soon._

_If you are in fact no longer on the Water Tribe boat, and have found a temporary home elsewhere, perhaps in an Earth Kingdom town, I will be happy to join you, or take you back aboard the_ Wani. _All your possessions are still here._

_I hope you are healthy, and that your injuries are healing well. If you can spare some time out of your surely packed schedule to write to an old man, I would love to hear about your experience, and any acquaintances you have made in your travels._

_You may not wish to hear a proverb now, but I will end this letter with one just in case — feel free to skip over it._

_Even the darkest cloud has a silver lining. Your situation may not be ideal, but there is always some good to be found. Try to remember that._

_Love, your Uncle Iroh_

Zuko bit down on his lip, choking back a breath that would have come out a sob, though the effort was useless; tears were already pouring down his face.

_He cares. He wrote to me. Uncle cares. He wants to see me, wants me to write back, wants **me** back, he **cares.**_

Zuko set the letter down, carefully, and stepped back a little so he wouldn't drip tears on the paper and smudge the ink, and covered his mouth to muffle the sobs. 

"Are you alright, Zuko?" Hakoda asked, the concern clear in his voice. Zuko looked up from the letter on the desk, swallowing and nodding. 

"I'm okay." He smiled, wiping away the tears; more kept falling, but he found he didn't care. "Uncle wrote to me," he explained in a shaky voice. 

A look of worry took over Hakoda's face, and Zuko realized his explanation might not be adequate. 

"It — it's okay, he didn't say anything bad — look." He turned the letter around so the Chief could read it. The Chief did read it, worried expression smoothing out. When he finished reading it, he looked up at Zuko, looking surprised. He didn't say anything. 

Zuko nervously chewed his lower lip, looking down at the desk. "Would it...would it be okay if I wrote back?" 

"Of course," Chief Hakoda answered. "I'm sure your Uncle would like to hear back from you as soon as possible."

Zuko couldn't hold back the smile straining at his face, making the underused muscles hurt just a little. 

"Thank you!" he exclaimed, before managing to contain himself. "Er. Chief Hakoda. Sir." 

The Chief stood up and smiled, and Zuko was too slow to dodge the inevitable hair-ruffle headed his way. "You're welcome, Zuko." 

~

It seemed Hakoda had been wrong in his assessment of Zuko's relationship with his Uncle. The man seemed to truly care for his nephew, and from Zuko's reaction, the feeling was mutual. 

_Good,_ Hakoda thought. _The kid deserves someone who cares about him._

 _Other than you, you mean?_ the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Bato's asked. 

_Shut up, head-Bato._

But just like his real-life counterpart, head-Bato did not shut up. 

_Whatever. Dadkoda. That's what we should call you._

Hakoda groaned out loud, earning a concerned look from Tuluk; he faked stumbling like he'd stubbed his toe. 

It seemed like Bato's bad puns were rubbing off on him. How else did he come up with something as dumb as _Dadkoda?_

 _Pa-_ koda would be _so_ much better! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys really thought I was gonna hurt Zuko again that soon? I'm not a complete monster!


	8. 8; 'Zuko, get some sleep, please.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the first actual filler I've published in all this time? I had it halfway written already before I realized I had no real idea where it was going, so I just made it into setup for the next one. Hope it doesn't suck *hopeful fingerguns*

"No, no, no! You're doing it all wrong! Look — give it back, alright, I'll do it. _Let me do it."_

Aake snatched the tangled net back. "Who taught you how to fish, kid?" he grumbled in Zuko's direction.

" _You_ did." Zuko scowled, crossing his arms and leaning against the rail. "And if you keep snatching it away, I'm never going to _learn."_

"That's quitter talk!" Panuk smiled, cheerfully untangling his end of the net. "You'll learn plenty of new swears!"

Akela snorted, looking up from the fish she was gutting. "True. There's a reason sailors have a reputation for cussing."

"The reason is somebody met Aake." Bato walked over, picking up a knife and joining Akela. Zuko huffed. 

"I'm a _Prince._ Royalty doesn't _cuss."_ _At least not when adults are around._ He rolled his eyes, snatching the net back from Aake. "And I can untangle a net myself." 

"Sure, kid. Just don't tear up my good net." Aake ruffled his hair and stepped away. Zuko glared at him, and set to work. 

"What are we even going to _do_ with all this fish?" He looked at the two large barrels set by the rail, both full of a variety of fish; mostly chicken-mackerel, though.

"We'll pickle some. Dry some of it. If we have too much, we can trade it for supplies we do need." Akela shrugged. "It's what the rest of the fleet do with their catch." 

"How do you know?" Zuko asked, interest piqued; in all his time on the _Akhlut,_ he had heard very little of the rest of the Southern Tribe's fleet. 

"Chief has correspondence with the others from time to time." Akela gestured to the sky with her knife. "You've seen the big birds that land on the deck once in a while? Those are the albatross-pigeons we use to send messages."

Zuko nodded, scowling; Those things left so many feathers on the deck _every time._ To say nothing of the _other_ messes that required _scrubbing_ out of the deck. He hadn't known they were messenger birds, though. He'd just thought they liked to hang out and ruin his hard work. 

"Chief's thinking of putting in an aviary belowdeck so we can get some birds of our own, or at least let the ones from the other ships get some rest." 

"We have an aviary on the _Wani_ for our messenger hawks." Zuko bit his lip, disentangling his arm from the net. "Genji, our hawker, does a lot of work maintaining it." 

Akela nodded. "Well, it'll be a good, fun, hardworking job to let someone else handle. Like Panuk!" 

Panuk looked up at the sound of his name. "Hmm? What'd you say?" 

"Nothing," Akela lied, smiling. Zuko was immediately reminded of Azula. Panuk looked suspicious as he went back to work, and Zuko noticed he kept an ear turned towards them.

Akela poked Zuko in the side with the handle of her knife. "What else you got on your ship, huh? I haven't heard a lot about it." 

Zuko tried to think of anything remotely interesting to tell her. "We have komodo-rhino stables," he said. Akela wrinkled her nose. 

"Is that safe?"

"Of course it is." Zuko rolled his eyes. "They're trained. I hung out around them all the time."

_And only got chewed on once. Because I had, in a sleep-deprived haze, managed to spill half my breakfast on my shirt. And had not bothered to change because I did not notice the mess._

He decided not to mention that to Akela. She ranked very low on his list of people he trusted with embarrassing information. 

"Where _is_ the next port?" Toklo asked, looking up from the ripped net he was repairing. 

"Couple days' sail, according to Chief." Aake looked up from Toklo, leveling his eyes at Zuko. "You're not coming onshore."

Zuko glared at him, indignant. "And why not?" 

"The last two times you left this ship, you came back injured." He shrugged, picking up the net. "It's for your own good."

Zuko's indignation flared into anger. "And that's _my_ fault? Why am _I_ being punished for something I didn't _do?"_

"It's not a _punishment."_ Aake glared at him. "It's a precaution. To keep _you_ from ending up dead in a ditch somewhere." 

"I can take care of myself," Zuko snarled. "This isn't fair!" 

"Zuko." Bato's sharp tone cut him off from saying anything else. "Please try and calm down. Aake, we hadn't decided yet whether any of the younger crewmembers would be allowed to go. Don't single Zuko out."

Zuko tuned out whatever Aake said next, finishing with untangling the net and leaving as quickly as possible. 

"Zuko?" Jin said as he walked into the kitchen, throwing himself into a chair. "You doing okay?"

"I _hate_ Aake," he grumbled, laying his head on the table and closing his eyes. Jin made a sympathetic noise, and Zuko relaxed just a little as she ran her fingers through his hair. 

"You don't mean that, Zuko," she said calmly. He huffed, looking up at her. 

"I can't stand to be around him," he amended. "He's so..."

"Abrasive," she suggested. 

"I don't know what that means," Zuko groaned miserably. "I'm so _tired."_

"Did you ever get to sleep last night?" 

"No. I still can't figure out what to write to Uncle." He sighed, laying his forehead against the cool wood of the table. "It was so much easier when I thought he wasn't going to read it."

Jin was quiet for a while, just scratching the back of his head gently, and _no,_ that did _not_ remind him of Mom, _shut up._

"I think the best thing to do would be to just tell the truth," she said. "Tell him you're safe, answer his questions." Zuko could have sworn he heard her smile. "Maybe leave out the part where you got drunk and tried to make soup with your bare hands."

Zuko snorted. "I'm pretty sure if I told him that he'd just congratulate me on 'becoming a proper teenager'." He said the last part in a passable imitation of Uncle Iroh's voice.

Jin shrugged. "If you think so."

He sighed, looking up. "I guess I'll try and write to him." 

"That's the spirit." Jin ruffled his hair. "Go get some rest first, though. And try not to let Aake get to you. He's probably as sick of being on this boat as you are."

Zuko sighed. "Sure. I can _try_ _."_

"Go lay down, Zuko."

"Okay." 


	9. 9; 'Toklo, stop insulting the creepy babey creature'

There was still fog in the air when the ship docked, but already there were people bustling about in view of the ship, opening shops and stands, chatting on corners, and generally starting the day. 

And Zuko was sulking with his chin in his hand, barely even paying attention to their card game. Toklo had cheated like three times and Zuko hadn't even _noticed._ Hakoda had announced that Zuko and Jin were, indeed, confined to the ship and its immediate surroundings. This did not make Zuko happy. 

"Look, bud, I'll get you some swords when I go into town. That'll be cool, right?" Toklo asked, laying down another pair of cards. Zuko huffed. 

"How are you gonna know if they're the right kind?" he laid down his cards, _face-up,_ wow, he really _wasn't_ paying attention. "What if you pay way more than you should for swords that'll break after three uses? Or decorative ones that aren't even sharp?" 

Toklo raised an eyebrow. "Well, what do you want me to get you?"

Zuko scowled. "Nothing. I don't _need_ anything, and I can't pay you back anyway."

Toklo sighed. "I'll get you a candle or something."

"What would I use a candle for?" 

"An outlet for your firebending or whatever. Didn't your Uncle say something like that?"

The scowl on the right side of Zuko's face smoothed out, his single brow going up in surprise. 

"You were actually listening?" 

Toklo shrugged. "Bending's always been cool to me, and of course I was listening when you talked about Uncle —"

" _My_ Uncle."

"My bad, _your_ Uncle. Of course I listened, I had to make sure he didn't say anything awful, you know?" Toklo hadn't forgotten about what Zuko's sister had written. Or his father, for that matter. 

"Uncle is the only person who _wouldn't_ say something awful. Not directly to me." 

Toklo tried not to dwell on the awfulness of that statement, which he had no doubt was entirely true. 

"Alright. What kind of candle do you want?" he asked. 

"There's more than one kind?" Zuko asked in response. 

"I'll just pick one you'll like. It'll be a surprise." Toklo thought back to the other surprises Zuko had had recently and grimaced. "But like, one you know about ahead of time." 

Zuko shrugged. "I still can't pay you back."

"Don't worry about it. You can take monster-feeding duty tomorrow instead of me, or something." That was the best payment he could have got, in Toklo's opinion. That thing was freaky. Zuko seemed to disagree, slipping back into his trademark scowl. 

"She's not a monster," he grumbled. "You're just mean." 

Toklo clapped him on the shoulder. "Only when it comes to horrible goat-geese." 

Zuko rolled his eyes, like Toklo had said something outrageously stupid. "She's a goose-goat, not a goat-goose, Toklo."

Toklo huffed. "Is there a difference?" 

Zuko echoed Toklo's huff. "Of course. Goat-geese are the total reverse of goose-goats."

Well. _There_ was a mental image that would keep Toklo up at night. 

"Good to know," he said, his voice squeaking embarrassingly. 

Zuko nodded, looking down at his cards. 

"Got any Three of Air?" 

"Go fish." 

~

Zuko watched through the barely-open door as the elder crewmembers walked off toward the town. He could hear Akela and Jin conversing loudly in the kitchen. 

And nobody was guarding the gangplank yet. 

Zuko slipped on his boots and a brown tunic, let down his ponytail and tied it in a topknot (slightly messy due to his inexperience), and dug through a box for his shin guards, the only thing he had that could possibly sell for any amount of money. 

Nobody stopped him as he walked down the gangplank, strolling into town and feeling satisfied with a successful stealth mission.

Now, to find himself some _swords._

Or...maybe a pawn shop, first. 

Maybe swords _at_ a pawn shop, and then —?

Eh. He'd figure it out in the moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha yeah sorry this is later than it should be I spent like all night Saturday watching the first episode of Starkid's Nightmare Time (totally worth it imo) and then a lot of Sunday sewing 
> 
> So yeah.
> 
> Also, feel free to check out my brother's Avatar fic and critique it ruthlessly: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966911


	10. 10; 'Zuko is a trouble magnet (and other fun facts you already knew)'

The streets here were a lot more open than in the last town, and there were hardly any narrow alleys between buildings. The names of establishments and important buildings in the town were carved into the stones of the road, with arrows pointing the way. Zuko supposed that must have been the work of earthbenders. 

There was, indeed, a pawn shop, only a couple streets away from the docks. Zuko got a decent-sized bag of gold for the armor, along with a suspicious look and a muttered comment about Fire Nation craftsmanship. He did his best to ignore that and not fist-fight an old woman this early in the day. 

There was a used weapons shop a few buildings down. Zuko looked through the window to make sure none of the Water Tribe men (or Akela, she seemed like the weapon-y type of healer) had gone inside. After that, he browsed for a short while before purchasing a dull, slightly rusted pair of dao, and the necessary equipment to care for them. After that there were still a handful of coins left over. 

_I guess I will be able to pay Toklo back after all._

He hung the scabbard at his side, walking out of the shop, and then froze. 

Across the street, Toklo was staring _right at him_ from the front step of a shop. Behind him in the doorway, Zuko saw Bato approaching. Before Bato could see him, Zuko dove into a bush. 

This was a horrible idea. The bush had thorns, which now jabbed into every inch of Zuko, every time he moved, leaving him frozen in an uncomfortable position for an excruciating amount of time. He watched through a tiny gap in the branches as Toklo said something to Bato, who nodded and walked off, and Toklo came across the street, walking _directly toward Zuko's hiding spot._

Zuko's mind went blank, running repeatedly through an endless loop of every swear Zuko had ever heard. Then Toklo reached inside the tangled bush, dragging Zuko out by the collar, and he learned a few _more_ choice phrases as Toklo complained about the thorns poking him. 

"What in La's name are you _doing_ here, Zuko?" 

Zuko rubbed his arm where a thorn had scratched it, raising his eyebrow to the best of his ability. Unfortunately, his left eyebrow had been the one he was always able to raise, so he felt like he probably just made himself look stupid trying to move the right one.

Well. More stupid. 

"Waterbending," he said sarcastically. "What do you _think_ I'm doing?" 

"I could do without your attitude, Zuko." Toklo crossed his arms, scowling at the swords on Zuko's hip. "Where did you — you didn't _steal_ those —?"

"No." Zuko glared at him, feeling more than a little insulted. "I haven't stolen anything. I sold the armor I still had to get the money."

Toklo huffed. "Whatever. You're going back to the ship." 

"Fine! I was going to anyways." 

Toklo nodded, taking Zuko's arm. "Let's go." 

The ship was in view when Zuko saw something that made him pause. There was someone in Fire Nation uniform coming away from the dock, walking with leisurely, overconfident strides.

Something about the soldier looked familiar, but it wasn't until he drew closer that Zuko in dismay recognized him as Captain Zhao, whose ship had waylaid the _Wani_ off the coast of the southwestern Earth Kingdom, making them lose precious time with small talk and the legal ramifications of Zuko being in waters so close to a Fire-Nation-controlled harbor. 

He had also been at the Agni Kai. He had wished Zuko _the best of luck,_ with a smile so unnerving and insincere that, then and now, it made Zuko shudder. 

_What is he doing **here?**_ _If he sees me, I'm dead. If he's here, that means this is Fire Nation property, and I can't **be** here, and Uncle isn't here to protect me this time. I'll be arrested, maybe even executed, and Toklo will probably get it worse because he's Water Tribe, and since I'm **with** him I'll be a traitor, so I'll **definitely** be executed, why did I ever sneak off the ship — _

Heart and mind still racing with fear, Zuko grabbed Toklo's arm in a death grip, dragging him into the nearest alley. Thankfully it didn't seem like Zhao had spotted them. 

"Damn it. Spirits, Agni, _son-of-a-bitch_ _,_ damn it," he hissed under his breath, leaning against the wall. He kept his good eye towards the street, his hand on the hilt of his swords. Trying to fight Zhao with them would be useless, unless he could time a hit _just_ right...

"Whoa," Toklo said, and Zuko felt hands rest on his shoulders. "What was that about?"

"Zhao," Zuko answered quietly. "He's a Captain in the Fire Navy."

"Oh." Toklo nodded. "Got it. So what do we do?"

"If he's in the village alone, he's probably not doing anything that'll take long. Our best bet is to just wait until he's out of the way." Zuko was so focused on watching the street he didn't notice the door swinging open on his left. 

"Are you two lost or something?" 

Zuko spun around, moving into a fighting stance, but Toklo's arm was already out to hold him back. The girl standing in the doorway raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. 

"If you're looking for the village tavern, it's on the other side of town." She crossed her arms. "Though, I'm not sure you're even old enough to get in." 

That seemed to be directed at Zuko, and he scowled. He wasn't _that_ short. 

"We're not," he snapped. "We're just waiting."

"Yeah," Toklo said. "There's a guy out there we'd rather not run into." 

The girl's thin eyebrows lifted. "Captain Zhao?" Toklo nodded. "He wasn't supposed to be coming for a few more _days..."_ She looked over her shoulder. "Why don't you two come in? It's safer than waiting out there." 

Zuko felt uneasy about going in, and not warning the others, but Toklo was already agreeing. "The others will be fine," he said in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring voice, going into the house after the girl and giving Zuko no real choice but to follow. 

_I guess being in a house with a stranger is better than being out here with Zhao,_ he thought, following Toklo inside. 


	11. 11; 'amateur dentistry, there's nothing like it!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blood and tooth stuff in the latter half of this chapter

Kaori didn't look up from the dishes as Kumiko pulled the door shut after talking for about a minute to whoever was outside; it was probably just another out-of-towner lost on his way to the tavern. They got a lot of those — this _had_ been a tavern at one point, but it had since closed down, and the road signs had not changed to reflect that. 

"Kaori, can you set two extra places at the table?" 

Kaori frowned. _Who'd she drag in this time?_

"You don't have to do that — we're not staying for lunch," a hoarse voice said. 

"If you're waiting for Zhao to leave, yes, you are staying. Probably until dinner. He'll spend all day hanging around the docks and interrogating fishermen. Especially with your boat there." 

"Come on, Zu, it'll be fine. It's not like the others are gonna die without us there," a second, less hoarse but older-sounding voice said. "Thank you for your hospitality, Miss...?"

"Kumiko."

Kaori almost gagged at the giggle hiding behind her sister's voice. _Must be a hot sailor,_ Kaori figured. 

"I'm Toklo. And this is my little brother, Zu — _oof!"_ Toklo made a sound like he'd been hit in the stomach. 

"Lee. I'm Lee," the little brother said, with all the conviction of someone lying through his teeth.

"Mhmm. Kaori, the table?" 

Kaori finished drying the dishes and carried two plates to the dining area, where Kumiko stood waiting, along with two boys wearing a style of clothing Kaori hadn't seen before. The taller one had a short half-ponytail, with beaded braids at the front, and was dressed all in blue. Water Tribe, probably — _no, definitely,_ she decided, taking in his dark skin and bright blue eyes. He looked pretty handsome, overall, and probably about fifteen or sixteen.

_Well, I can see why Kumiko's smitten._

The other boy — 'Lee' — had on clothing in shades of brown, and his hair...to put it frankly, it looked a little stupid. The braids hanging down from his sloppily done topknot were as long as Kaori's hair, probably even longer since they were in braids and that took away length. But all the other hair on the poor guy's head was less than an inch long. At his side he had a sword, which was _no fair,_ he had to be like, ten, and Kaori was _twelve_ and Kumiko barely trusted her to cut up steak. 

The most striking _(and horrifying)_ detail was the massive scar, burned in a bloody shade of red across the left side of his otherwise pale face. One of his _(Fire Nation gold)_ eyes, permanently frozen in a halfway-shut scowl. The burn looked recent, too. And painful.

He must have caught her staring, because he shot her a glare, stepping closer to Toklo and resting his hand on his sword. 

"This is Kaori," Kumiko said, waving a hand toward Kaori. Her cheeks were a bright shade of pink when she looked at the Water Tribe sailor, and Kaori inwardly sighed, resigning herself to getting left out of any and all interesting conversation while her _boy-crazy sister_ flirted with the pretty boy (who was apparently hiding from Captain Zhao. Kaori didn't blame him).

"Hi," Toklo said, smiling widely. 'Lee' simply nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Kaori added the two plates to the eight others at the table, moving to her sister's side. Kumiko smiled, resting her hand on Kaori's shoulder, absently twirling her hair with her other hand. 

"It's nice to meet both of you," Kaori said, meaning it a little more toward Toklo than toward 'Lee'. 

"It's nice to meet both of you, too," Toklo said brightly. Kaori suspected he meant that a little more toward Kumiko. That was fine. 

"Lunch is going to be a little while, but there's a sitting room in the front." Kumiko smiled. "I'll introduce you to the rest of the family."

Kaori tagged along behind as Kumiko led them through the house. 

_Just when you thought it was gonna be a normal day. Stupid Zhao._

~

Zuko was not at all sure what to make of Kumiko. She _seemed_ friendly, and he didn't see any weapons, but he knew from experience that weapons could be concealed anywhere. She didn't have long sleeves like Mai, but her skirt could easily be hiding a knife in her boot, or dart launchers. The wide sash around her waist could hold any number of knives. Really, there was no telling where someone might stash a weapon. 

And she kept giving Toklo weird looks. 

The younger girl, Kaori, was just as weird. She looked similar enough to Kumiko that they were probably related — they even dressed similarly, though in slightly different shades of pinkish-brown. They both had their hair up in identical half-ponytail styles. It was a little freaky. Kaori's eyes were green, though, instead of Kumiko's dark brown, and she had a _ton_ of freckles. 

She wasn't giving any weird looks like Kumiko — she was just flat-out _staring._ At his hair, and then his swords, and his scar. Hadn't anyone ever taught her that was rude? 

Zuko followed Kumiko and Toklo through the house, _hoping_ he hadn't made a horrible decision in letting this happen. Kaori was _right_ behind him, so if _she_ had a knife it would be all too easy for it to end up in his back. Toklo seemed oblivious, happily trailing Kumiko with a dumb look on his face, and commenting on the décor of the house as if it mattered. 

They got to the front of the house, and Kaori opened the door.

"Lee, Toklo, this is some of our family," Kumiko said, gesturing around the room. "Family, these are Lee and Toklo." 

The two children in the corner looked up curiously before going back to their game. The red-haired woman sitting against the wall close to the door (she didn't look any older than thirty, Zuko noted, and she didn't look at all similar to Kumiko or Kaori) looked up from the baby in her lap, her brows furrowing. 

"Kumiko," she said reproachfully, raising an eyebrow. "You know you're supposed to ask before bringing anyone in."

"I know, but they were hiding from Captain Zhao in the alley, and it felt rude to leave them out there." Kumiko moved across the room, picking up scrolls and toys from the floor. Kaori mumbled something under her breath that Zuko didn't quite hear except that it involved 'pretty-eyed sailor boy', and followed Kumiko. 

The red-haired woman sighed, shifting the baby so she could hold it with one arm, and looked up. "I'm Maren. It's nice to meet you — what were your names again? I didn't quite catch them." 

"I'm Toklo," Toklo said, offering his arm. Maren smiled, reaching up to grip his arm near the elbow. Toklo positively beamed as they both released. "And he's Lee," Toklo added, gesturing to Zuko. Maren didn't lose her smile, but she did _look_ at him for a few moments. Not in a _bad_ way, but definitely in an appraising way. 

The baby in her arms half-whined, half-yelled, tugging on Maren's long braid with impossibly tiny hands. Maren winced, gently pulling her braid out of the baby's grasp and planting a kiss on the wispy black curls covering its head. "This little hair-grabber is Aimi." 

Zuko decided Maren probably wasn't going to kill or maim anyone with a baby on her lap. Probably. 

"You two can sit down, if you want," Kaori offered. 

"Actually, we could probably leav—" Zuko broke off, because Toklo had already crossed the room and sat down next to Kumiko. _Great._

Sighing, he walked over, sitting on the floor nearby, and resigned himself to being Toklo's third wheel. Maren handed the baby over to Kaori and walked out of the room. 

The little red-haired girl who had been playing on the other side of the room came over, leaning on his shoulder. 

"Have you ever lost a tooth?" she asked cheerfully. 

"Yes," he replied, because he had, he wasn't a baby.

"Does it hurt?"

"Um...a little," he answered truthfully.

She dropped to her knees beside him. 

"I'm Akemi. Can you pull this tooth out for me?" She grinned widely, pulling her lower lip down and pointing to her bottom front tooth. 

Well. This wasn't the _weirdest_ introduction he'd ever had. But he couldn't just pull out a tooth — this wasn't _his_ kid, he didn't even _know_ her. 

"I'm sorry, I —"

"Please?" she asked, giving him the biggest shark-puppy-eyed look he had ever seen. "Mom can't, because she doesn't want to hurt me, and Kumiko was _supposed_ to, but now she's talking to a _boy."_

"I..." Zuko sighed. _Might as well_. "Alright. Sure. Hold still..." 

~

Toklo was pretty sure he'd just gone and fallen in love. Which was a shame, since they weren't supposed to be docked here for very long at all. It was a good thing Chief was picking up some messenger birds soon — he would simply have to woo her from afar. Love letters weren't that hard, right?

Kumiko was in the middle of telling him about the Fire Nation's occupation of the town when, behind Toklo, someone _shrieked._

~

Maren had _just_ gotten up to get a drink of water. She was allowed to do that, right? Drink more water, like the town doctor had said, so she didn't get sick from dehydration and die before thirty and leave her children motherless with a father in the war? That was allowed. Just three minutes (at most!) of aloneness, and Kaori could hold the baby! Kaori loved holding the baby! Nothing could go wrong. She picked up a cup and the water pitcher — 

Someone was screaming. Something was wrong.

Maren dropped her cup and raced back through the house, skidding to a stop in the doorway. 

That _boy —_ the younger one, _Lee,_ with the scar and the Fire Nation eyes she'd been willing to look past before, had his hand on _her child,_ and his other hand was _bloody,_ and Akemi was crying, and her _mouth_ was bloody, _what did he do_ —

"Zuko, _what did you do?"_ Toklo shouted, standing up, and the other boy looked up with a panicked expression. Maren hurried over, snatching her daughter up off the floor. The boy flinched, hard, and scurried out of the way. 

"I'm sorry, she — she told me to do it!" he stammered, holding out a small, white object on his palm. "She told me to pull it out. I didn't know it would hurt..." 

Akemi was nodding, wiping the tears and snot and blood off her face. 

"Mom, he pulled my tooth out, see?" she said, sniffling and opening her mouth wide to show off the gap where her front tooth used to be on the bottom row. 

Maren felt like fainting from relief. She petted Akemi's hair, hugging her and taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Pressing himself against the wall, the boy looked ready to bolt, or faint, or some combination of both. 

"I'm sorry," he said in a choked, hoarse whisper. "I - I didn't mean to hurt her, she asked me to do it, but I didn't know it would hurt so much..." 

The scared look on his face sent a jolt of sympathy through Maren's gut. She swallowed. 

"Akemi, is he telling the truth?" 

"Yeah, Mom," Akemi sniffled. 

Maren sighed, patting Akemi's back and setting her down. "Go get some salt water and rinse your mouth out, alright?" 

Akemi nodded, running off to the kitchen. Maren lowered herself to the floor, looking at the boy. Across from her, Toklo knelt down by his side. 

"It's okay," she said, as gently as she could. "You didn't mean to hurt her, and there was no harm done."

He blinked rapidly, looking down at the floor, his shoulders sagging with something not-quite-relief. Toklo wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

"It's alright," he said soothingly. "It's okay." Looking up at Maren, he asked, "Could he have some water?"

"I'll get it," Kumiko offered, standing and hurrying to the kitchen. 

Maren sighed. "I'm sorry I scared you," she said quietly. 

"It's okay," the boy whispered, sounding shaky. "I — I wasn't _scared._ I wasn't."

"Of course you weren't," Toklo said, patting his shoulder. "Let's go clean up your hand, we don't need Kustaa freaking out when he sees the blood."

The boy gave a weak laugh, pulling himself to his feet and handing the tooth to Maren. 

"You probably want that back." 

She smiled and wrinkled her nose at the slightly bloody gift. "Thanks." 

"Um. By the way, you probably heard me call him Zuko," Toklo said sheepishly, receiving a scowl from the other boy. Maren held up her hands. 

"I won't ask. If you say you're Lee, then you're Lee." 

Lee gave her a small smile and followed Toklo out of the room. A moment later Toklo peeked his head back in. 

"Sorry to bother you, but where's your washroom?" 

"Through the kitchen, to the left." 

"Thanks." 


	12. 12; 'do these children just not learn etiquette?'

Toklo was still not back from retrieving his money that he'd left on the ship. Bato tried not to be worried, but it was _well_ over fifteen minutes since he'd left, and it was only supposed to be ten. 

_He's probably found a cute dog, or a pretty girl. Or he got sidetracked in a card game with Zuko and Jin back on the ship._

He sighed, examining a set of carved wooden bowls at the front of the shop. Shook his head at the price, set them down, moved to look at pans instead.

He paused, seeing a far-off splash of red out of the corner of his eye. Took a step back, looking out the window, toward the docks. 

There was a _Fire Nation soldier_ out there, talking to a fisherman. 

A chill ran down Bato's spine. Did this explain why Toklo hadn't come back? 

_How could we have missed this being a Fire Nation port!_

He left the shop, running to find Hakoda. 

~

Kaori was greatly amused by Lee's attempts at cooking. He'd never set foot in a kitchen in his life — the way he held the knife was a clear indication of that. And when the time came to light the stove, he didn't even know how to use the spark rocks. 

Of course, Kaori supposed if he was a firebender (or even raised by firebenders) he probably hadn't _needed_ to know how spark rocks worked. 

~

Three more people walked in while Zuko was trying _(trying)_ to help Kaori make lunch.

This did not help his focus, as the younger boy and the girl started a discussion with Kaori, and while part of him was screaming that it was _rude to eavesdrop,_ another part was saying Kaori was being rude by ditching him with a task he _didn't_ _know how to do_ to talk with her friends.

He tried not to listen anyway, but that didn't mean he didn't _hear_ that they were talking about _Zhao_ , and that just made Zuko _more_ frustrated, because he was in here hiding like a coward under a fake name, while the rest of Hakoda's crew could be on their way to Zhao's ship by now!

And Zuko was doing what? Cooking. Not even doing it _well_. And Kaori was definitely laughing at him whenever she turned around too quickly. 

"Hey, need some help?" 

Zuko looked at the third new arrival, a boy probably Toklo's age, with long, black hair hanging past his shoulders. He had a friendly smile, and a slightly smudged drawing of a rattle-axolotl on his arm. Next to that, someone had written **'he's MEAN and he's coming for your TOE'.** Zuko figured someone must have drawn it on him while he was sleeping. 

"I'm Quon," he introduced himself, grinning. His front tooth had a small chip at the corner.

"Lee," Zuko said. "Help would be nice." 

The older boy tied his long hair back in a low ponytail, cracking his knuckles in a way that seemed like he was deliberately showing off, and picked up the knife Kaori had put down, pulling her cutting board over and starting to slice the fruits piled on the counter. 

"You wanna do the walnutapples in smaller pieces," Quon instructed, nodding toward Zuko's knife. "Akemi has a loose tooth." 

Zuko winced. "Not anymore," he muttered. He sliced them thinner anyway, because he hadn't really thought about it, but _he_ still had a loose tooth from when Heng punched him in the face, and _that_ was a problem to be dealt with on another day, much like most of Zuko's problems. 

~

Zuko found himself squished between Quon and Akemi at one end of the table. Toklo was all the way at the other end, thankfully not looking _too_ comfortable being squished by Kumiko and Riku (her friend? Brother? Zuko had no clue how any of these people were related except for Maren and her daughters). 

_This is fine,_ Zuko told himself, as Jae, the little boy next to Akemi, began demonstrating his earthbending skills by making faces on the nearest earthenware vase. _This isn't an intimidation tactic. They don't even know you're a firebender._ _He's a **kid.** Chill. _

He picked a tiny piece of leaf out of his fruit salad, fishing through for a non-squishy graperoot. He had been extra careful to sort out all the squishy ones, but one could never be too careful. 

"So, Toklo, I heard you say you're from the Southern Water Tribe?" Maren asked. "What brings you so far from home?" 

"Military business," Toklo replied. "We're headed to Chameleon Bay to rendezvous with the rest of our fleet, and then we'll be headed West again." 

Well, this was the first Zuko had heard of _that_ plan. 

"How do you know Captain Zhao?" Kaori's friend, Yi-Min, asked, giving Zuko a sidelong suspicious glance. Zuko saved Toklo the trouble of answering. 

"I've met him," he said. "He stopped my Uncle's ship when we sailed past a Fire Nation harbor. We didn't even go on land," he complained. It felt nice being able to complain to _someone_ about it, even if it wasn't the full truth. 

Quon grimaced. "Yikes. He didn't torch the ship or anything, did he?" 

Zuko huffed. "The desire was implied." 

"Zhao's such a _dick,"_ Riku grumbled, stabbing a chunk of walnutapple fiercely. Kumiko gave him a reproachful look. 

"Language," she said, though there wasn't much conviction behind it. 

"Whatever, _Mom,"_ Riku snarked back. Kumiko rolled her eyes, reaching across Toklo to flick him on the forehead. 

" _Ow!_ Hey!"

"That's enough," Maren said sharply. The two glared at each other before settling back down. 

"So," Toklo said after several minutes of relative quiet. "Big family."

"We're not all related," Kaori said, tossing a graperoot in the air to catch it in her mouth. Swallowing it, she looked at Toklo. "Maren and her husband own the house, but Kumiko, Riku and I board here. Our parents are both benders, so they both ended up in the Army." Her face twisted like she'd bit into a lemon. " _Both_ armies, actually."

Zuko put down his bowl in surprise, staring at her. "You mean you're Earth _and_ Fire?" 

She whipped her head around to look at him. "You're surprised? It's not like we're the only ones." She raised an eyebrow. "You should know — aren't you Toklo's _brother?"_

Zuko winced. "That's...complicated." 

"How?" 

"Kaori, leave him alone," Kumiko said with a note of warning in her voice. Kaori scowled. 

"Fine. Sorry..."

The rest of lunch continued in silence. 


	13. 13; 'swords?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New game: drink every time it says 'sword'
> 
> But drink like, pop or something.

Zuko helped clear the table after lunch, and since Toklo showed no indication of being ready to leave any time soon, wandered back to the kitchen to help Riku with the dishes. Riku looked glad for the help, and let Zuko take over washing while he dried. 

The water was warm before Zuko even touched it — there hadn't been time to heat it on the stove, and why would anyone waste time on that anyway —?

He turned to look at Riku, and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. 

"You're a firebender." 

Riku looked up, meeting his eyes with a guarded expression. 

"And?"

Zuko remembered what Kaori had said. How one of her parents (and by extension Kumiko's and Riku's) was a firebender. How, really, he shouldn't be surprised by this. 

He made a quick, probably dumb decision, and raised his hand out of the water, heating it. Steam rose off his skin as the water droplets evaporated almost instantly. 

"So am I," he said. 

Riku's guarded look disappeared. A smile took its place. Zuko smiled back. 

~

Yi-Min came into the house twenty minutes after lunch with the report that Zhao had gone across town to the tavern, leaving the way to the docks clear. 

"See, Toklo? It's safe to go now," Zuko pointed out. Toklo sighed, taking his arm off Kumiko's shoulders. 

"I guess we should get going, then. Wouldn't want anyone to worry..." He looked at Kumiko, squeezing her hand. "I'll write soon." 

She smiled, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Stay safe." 

Zuko looked away from the scene, making weary eye contact across the room with Riku, who pretended to gag at the couple's antics. Zuko rolled his eyes in agreement. 

"Come on, bud." Toklo stood up, cheeks flushed. "Let's go." 

"Yeah." Zuko sighed and waved goodbye to Riku before grabbing Toklo's wrist and pulling him to the back door leading into the alley. 

"You boys be careful," Maren said, stopping them by the door and handing Toklo a small roll of paper. "Here's a list of all the Fire Nation ports between here and Chameleon Bay. I guess it's hard to find up-to-date maps in the Water Tribe." 

Toklo nodded. "Thanks." He smiled, pocketing the scroll. "I'll make sure Chief reads it." 

She smiled. "It's no trouble."

Zuko bowed to her slightly. "Thank you for your hospitality," he said. "I...um...I apologize for pulling your daughter's tooth out, and causing you worry." He ignored Toklo's muffled snort of laughter. "I overstepped."

Maren smiled. "No harm done."

Toklo waved as they stepped outside and Maren closed the door. Zuko sighed. 

"Come on, we need to make sure everyone's okay." 

~

The Fire Nation soldier Bato had seen was gone. His ship was still docked, but Hakoda couldn't see even a speck of red at the harbor. 

"Are you _sure_ he said he was going back to the ship?" he asked Bato. 

"Yes," Bato said, tense. "And he should have been back an hour ago."

"Maybe he saw the soldier and decided to stay on the ship," Panuk suggested hopefully. 

"He has a point," Hakoda said. "Toklo could be safe on the ship —"

"Chief Hakoda!" 

Bato and Hakoda whirled around in unison at the sound of the familiar, raspy shout. 

The sight of Zuko, _not_ safe on the ship, was irritating (in hindsight, though, they should have left someone to guard the docks), but Toklo was right behind him, and the relief that sent through Hakoda canceled out the irritation. 

(Mostly.)

"So, I know what you're gonna say — ' _Zuko, why are you off the ship?'_ and I will get to that in a moment —"

"Toklo, where have you been?"

Zuko looked a little offended when Bato cut him off, crossing his arms and eyeing Toklo sternly. 

"Hey, for the record, this is all Zuko's fault," Toklo said, waving a hand toward the Prince. Zuko's affront was fully visible, his mouth falling open as he glared at Toklo. 

"Hey! You're the one who followed a _stranger_ into the house —"

"Zuko, please let Toklo finish," Hakoda said. "You can tell us what you're doing here once he's done." 

Zuko closed his mouth, frowning. Toklo nodded. "Thank you."

He launched into explaining not only how it was all Zuko's fault he had gotten off track (and try as he might, Hakoda could not argue with the logic of that), but also how it was actually a good thing he had gotten sidetracked, because he had come out of the situation with a list of all the Fire Nation ports on the way to Chameleon Bay, because apparently their map was outdated by a good thirty years. 

(It was a shame. Hakoda _liked_ that map. Color coded and everything.)

"Zuko, do you want to explain why you left the ship?" Hakoda asked once Toklo was done. Zuko became very interested in the spider-anthill at his feet. 

"Getting swords," he mumbled. 

Hakoda frowned. He had thought firebenders didn't use weapons — sure, Kustaa had given Zuko a knife for self-defense, but wielding a sword required training. None of the crew knew how to use swords, so how did Zuko expect to learn the skill?

 _"Swords?"_ he asked, to make sure he had heard correctly. 

Zuko nodded. "I — I didn't steal them. Or steal money to get them. And I didn't sell any stolen objects either. They were mine." 

Hakoda wanted to know, but didn't ask. "What did you need swords for?" he asked instead. 

"Self-defense."

"You have a knife." 

"I know." Zuko laid a hand protectively on the hilt of the sword at his side. "I'm better with swords." 

_Sword_ ** _s_** _?_ Plural? More than one? 

"How many swords did you buy?" Hakoda asked. 

"Just two. I work best with dual dao, and they had a set. I bought my own sharpener and stuff, so I won't have to borrow one."

Zuko drew the sword slightly out of its sheath, and Hakoda could now see that it was in fact two swords, crafted to fit together in one scabbard. 

The first thought to cross his mind was _Oh, boy,_ along with memories of everything Sokka had ever knocked over, broken, or whacked over the head as he trained with his weapons. And that was on solid ground with plenty of extra space, and only _one_ weapon at a time. 

Whatever. He could deal with that problem when it happened. 

"You were supposed to stay on the ship," he said, getting back to the original subject. "For your own safety." 

Zuko scowled. "I can defend myself," he snapped, clenching his fists and his teeth. "I'm not a _kid._ I'm not _weak."_

Hakoda thought of Sokka again for a different reason, and had to push down the emotion that brought up.

"In the future, if you have a problem with my orders, tell me. If you can give a good reason why my rules are unfair, then we can negotiate to change them. But if not, you'll have to accept the outcome. And the rules."

Zuko scowled, looking down. 

"Do you understand?" Hakoda asked. 

"Yes, sir," he ground out. 

"Now, both of you go back to the ship. Yes, you too, Toklo," he added when the younger warrior pointed to himself. "Someone has to keep an eye on the Fire Navy ship."

Toklo's eyes lit up at the prospect of having a serious responsibility. "Yes, sir!" 

"Zuko, you know the captain of that ship?" Bato asked. "Toklo said you pointed him out."

"Captain Zhao." Zuko looked like he'd remembered something unpleasant. "I've met him." 

"Could you write down all the information you have on his ship, and crew?" Hakoda asked. Zuko bit his lip, consideration on his face. 

"You're going to...sabotage his ship?"

Hakoda shared a look with Bato before nodding. "Yes. We are." 

Zuko sighed heavily. For a second he looked about to say no, but —

"I'll give you the info." 

Toklo raised an eyebrow. "You sure, buddy? I mean —"

"Zhao is the actual worst, and Uncle isn't here to make me be nice to him," Zuko said bluntly. "If he could get away with blowing up _my_ ship, he would. It's fair."

Hakoda frowned. The thought that a military leader would be ready to turn against their own _Prince_ with lethal force — and was apparently awful enough that the same boy had no qualms about sabotaging his ship — just told him more of what he already knew about the Fire Nation. 

"I can't go with you, though," Zuko stated. "If Zhao sees me, I'm dead. He hasn't seen my...scar, but he saw me get it. It wouldn't be hard to figure out." 

"He _saw —"_

"Toklo, go ahead and take Zuko back to the ship," Bato said. "We'll get the rest of the supplies and inform the rest of the crew." 

Toklo sighed, putting his arm around Zuko's shoulders. "Yes, sir." 

The two boys walked off toward the harbor. Hakoda sighed. 

"Let's go," he said to Bato. "We've got a crew to brief." 

~

Zuko sighed, leaning against the railing and examining his new swords. There were dents all along the edges, and rust built up where the blade met the cracked wood of the handle. 

Zuko could probably fix them, he concluded. He'd made the ones he had on his ship, after all. After three tries, but that just meant he had the extra experience. 

Beside him, Toklo was straddling the railing and leaning out far enough to fall over, peering through a telescope at Zhao's ship. 

"He's not going to be back until later, Toklo," Zuko informed him, starting on one of his swords. "If he's at the tavern, he's going to get drunk, and he gossips like a noblewoman." 

Toklo looked down from the telescope, his brows furrowed. "Didn't you get on my ass for calling cooking 'women's work' yesterday?" 

"You've never met a noblewoman, have you? They're one of the two groups of chronic gossipers." Zuko flipped the blade, frowning at a patch of rust. "It's their job or something. I could have said 'like an old man,' but he _is_ an old man. The metaphor wouldn't work." 

"Sounds like you're horse-bullshitting me." Toklo sighed, lying back on the railing. 

"Didn't you get on _me_ for cussing yesterday?" Zuko raised his eyebrow, looking up. 

"Shush. Can you teach me how to use swords like that?" 

Zuko bit his lip, considering. _"If_ you do your best not to take out my other eye." 

_"Yes!"_ Toklo pumped his fist triumphantly. His eyes grew comically wide as he lost his balance, tipping sideways over the railing. He hit the water with a _splash!_

Zuko froze, holding his breath and listening.

"I'm okay!" 

Zuko sighed in relief. "Good for you, idiot!" 

"Rude!"


	14. 14; 'someone needs to learn the phrase "mind your own business".'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's Zhao. Zhao needs to learn that phrase.

Zhao didn't look up from his drink as the tavern door opened behind him. He didn't acknowledge the newcomer as she sat down beside him.

"Brat came into my shop earlier," she said to the barmaid, taking a sip of the strong-smelling drink the barmaid set in front of her. "Dressed in _Water Tribe_ clothes — I haven't seen clothes like that since I was a little girl living on Whaletail." 

The barmaid gave an unladylike snort. "I have a hard time imagining you as a little girl, Kala." 

"You have a hard time imagining anything," the old woman huffed. "Pour me another drink." 

Zhao heard the sound of ceramic clinking, liquid pouring from one vessel to another. The old woman took a loud sip. "He did look pale for Water Tribe. Had a nasty scar too — looked like he'd tripped face-first onto a torch." 

The barmaid made a quiet hissing sound. "Ouch. Soldier?"

The woman shrugged. "Didn't look older than twelve or so. Had to stand on tiptoe to reach across the counter." 

"Weird. _I_ have had some odd customers in here, too — know that runaway, Li and Amaya's girl? Lives in the old tavern? She came in, hung around the door for a bit, then walked right back out —"

"What did the boy look like?" Zhao asked. The two women turned to look at him. 

"What's it to you?" The barmaid put down her pitcher, crossing her arms. Zhao ignored her, looking at the old woman. 

"Kala, wasn't it?" he asked. She nodded slowly, suspicious, but from the look on her face, she recognized a high-ranking officer when she saw one. "Would you mind describing the boy to me?" 

"What, 'looks like he fought a campfire and lost' isn't good enough?" she grumbled. "He carried himself different — entitled-like, you know? Like he was important or something. Trying to _act_ like he knew his way around." 

Zhao nodded, frowning. "And he was dressed in Water Tribe clothes?" 

"Yes."

"What did he buy?"

"Oh, he wasn't buying — he _sold_ me a pair of metal greaves. Decent quality, for _Fire Nation_ craftsmanship." Her eyes fell on Zhao's armor. "No disrespect meant. The greaves had genuine gold trim. Mean anything?"

_Oh, you have no **idea**. _

Zhao set down his cup, and laid a gold coin on the table. "Allow me to pay for your drinks, Kala."

"Sir?"

"You've just given me a very valuable piece of information." He turned to her, smiling. "A couple of drinks is the least reward I can give."

He pushed his chair back and stood. "Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies." 

~

"Well, that was ominous," Kala said as she watched the Captain walk out the door.

"What a creep," Tori, the barmaid, muttered. "Didn't even tip, either." 

"Eh, keep the coin, I'll buy my own drinks. Don't need _him_ to pay for them." Kala turned back to her drink. "So what were you saying about Amaya's girl?" 


	15. 15; 'a little treason never hurt anyone'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for burning (not graphic), -very- minor character death, and Zhao being a dickface. Have fun.

Zuko had still not come down from the top of the cabin. Hakoda's new pet had not given up on trying to follow him up there. 

Toklo was just enjoying the show. 

"Toklo! Help me!" Zuko growled, pulling back from the edge of the roof as the isopup scrambled up the wood again before falling back down. 

"Nope," he said, leaning back on his crate. "Payback." 

"For _what?"_

"Your goose monster."

" _Yuki,"_ Zuko growled, pulling his hands out of biting range, "is not a _monster._ And at least she has the _normal_ amount of legs! And she doesn't try to _kill_ people for no reason!" 

_"Puh-lease."_ Toklo stood up, readjusting his armor, which had shifted out of place when he laid down. "It's a _puppy._ You've never even seen one of the big ones."

"I don't care! It _bit me_ _."_

"It's not _his_ fault you smell like Fire Nation scum to him." Toklo crouched next to the isopuppy, scratching under its chin. "Is it, boy? You've just had some bad experiences, hmm?" 

"I changed my mind. I'm not teaching you how to use my swords," Zuko grumbled. 

Toklo sighed, shaking his head, and picked up the adorably wriggling mess of legs and exoskeletal segments, scratching the puppy's head. "Who'sa good boy? You'ssa good boy, isn'tchu?" 

The puppy licked Toklo's face, and he smiled, looking up at Zuko. 

"It's safe to come down now, the ferocious beast is restrained." 

Zuko scowled, crawling to the edge of the roof and leaping down to land in a roll that carried him back up onto his feet. 

"You keep that — _it_ away from me," he grumbled, massaging a small red mark on his wrist. 

"You know, he wouldn't bite you if you were nice to him. He can sense bad vibes." Toklo looked at the pup, smiling. "Can't you?"

"Remind me _why_ the Chief decided we need a dog," Akela said as she walked out of the cabin, strapping a boomerang sheath to her back. "Haven't we got enough annoying, small creatures on the ship?"

"Hey!" Zuko snapped. Akela smirked. 

"Funny how I never mentioned your name but you assumed I was talking about _you_. Seems like you're finally self-aware." 

Toklo snickered. Zuko stomped on his foot, and _ouch,_ that kid had some leg strength. 

"There's a mouse problem in storage," Aake said, answering Akela's question as he finished sharpening his knife. "Though, the words 'too cute to resist' got tossed around." 

Zuko scoffed. "His standards are too low." 

"Well, sure — he took you on, after all." 

"Exactly." 

Toklo winced. Not just because of the numerous adorable and well-meaning puppy claws digging into his arms. 

The Chief came out of the cabin, his helmet under his arm. "Everyone ready?" 

"Yes, sir," Aake said, flipping the knife and tucking it into its sheath. 

"Good. Toklo and Panuk, remember, you're staying to guard the ship," Hakoda said. "Stay on deck and keep watch, alright? Be ready to fight or sail on short notice. Kustaa will be there to help if anyone's hurt." 

Toklo nodded. "Yes, sir."

"What if someone gets on the ship?" Zuko asked. "What should me and Jin do?"

"Kick as much ass as you can," Akela said at the same time as Hakoda said "Get belowdecks and hide." They frowned at each other. 

"Get belowdecks," Hakoda repeated. "If you're _followed,_ defend yourself in whatever way you see fit. Just don't burn down the ship." 

Zuko nodded, serious. "Yes, sir. I'll inform Jin." 

"Good. Stay alert, and protect each other." He gave an encouraging smile before turning to the other warriors. "Let's move out." 

~

"You're gonna pace a hole in the floor, Zuko." 

Zuko glared at Jin and kept pacing, more aggressively, out of spite. The as-yet-unnamed biting monster followed him with infuriating _click_ s of its many, many legs on the floor, nipping at his ankles periodically. 

"Lay off him, Jin," Panuk said. "We're all nervous." 

"I'm not nervous!" Zuko growled. A spark flew out of his mouth, blinking out an inch away from his eye. He winced. "I'm just — I'm —"

"How about we all just sit down for a while?" Toklo suggested.

"Yeah. Sure. Sit down, and then get ambushed. Great idea, Toklo." 

Zuko inwardly winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He hadn't meant to say it out loud. Panuk frowned. 

"Alright. New idea. _You_ can go sit down." He pointed toward the cabin. "We'll keep watch." 

"Fine." Zuko stomped into the cabin, scowling, and laid down on his bunk. The isopuppy followed, the _click-clack_ sounds of its steps close behind him. He gritted his teeth, trying to tune out the noise. 

_Stop being such a jerk to everyone. It's not their fault you're a big baby who's worried about everything,_ he thought. The voice in his head was a suspiciously Azula-like hiss. 

He stared at the bottom of Jin's bunk until his eyes hurt. His head already felt too heavy, every muscle in his body aching with nervous tension. Outside, he heard the others talking, loud enough to be irritating but quiet enough that he couldn't make out the words. 

The voices suddenly grew to shouts of alarm and anger. He was on his feet in an instant, drawing his swords as he ran out the door.

Jin, Panuk and Toklo were locked in combat with four Fire Nation soldiers. Zuko gasped, running to help them. 

And crashed right into an armored chest. 

"Prince Zuko," the soldier said, in a voice Zuko wished wasn't familiar. "I thought I would find you here."

Zuko stumbled backward, breath catching in his throat. "Zhao."

"It's _Captain_ Zhao — I see living among savages hasn't improved your _manners."_

_How did he know I was here I was so careful how did he **know**_

Zuko stepped back again, glancing toward the fight going on across the deck. One of the Fire Nation soldiers was sprawled, unconscious, but the other three were still fighting hard. 

"Don't worry — you know these _'warriors',"_ Zhao scoffed, "won't stand a chance against _experienced_ soldiers." He spoke as if he were talking about a tough cleaning job or a game, and not the lives of _people._ "Well, come along. There's no need for you to stay he— _HEY!"_

Zuko pushed past Zhao, racing to Jin's side — the Water Tribe boys could hold their own, but Jin had little combat experience and, he was sure, even less combative _earthbending_ experience, and the soldier fighting her had a pike. Zuko hadn't properly _fought_ in months, but he would have to make do with what he had. 

He managed to knock the soldier overboard before Zhao grabbed him by the arm; Zuko dropped the sword in that hand in his surprise.

"Who would have thought that our own _Prince_ would be the one to turn traitor?" he hissed in Zuko's ear. "You know, I was going to deliver you to your uncle. But now..." His grip on Zuko's wrist tightened painfully, his eyes fixed on Zuko's scar. "I bet the Fire Lord will enjoy finishing what he started. After all, there's only one punishment for _treason."_

Zuko felt blood rush to his face in his anger at the accusation. He glared at Zhao, his eyes watering as the man's nails dug into his arm. "I'm not a traitor!" 

"What else would you call joining the _enemy,_ fighting against your own soldiers?" Zhao sneered. Zuko growled, raising his sword, and Zhao chuckled, quiet and cold. "Like mother, like son, I suppose." 

That was it. Zuko saw red, and the next moment, Zhao had let go of him, and there was blood on Zuko's sword and blood on Zhao's hand. In that split second of freedom, Zuko picked a direction and _ran._

He dashed into the cabin, with Zhao in pursuit, screaming insults and throwing fire that thankfully didn't catch on the wood of the ship. 

The running came to a stop when Zuko crashed into the kitchen table, landing face-first. His sword fell from his hand and skidded across the table, landing on the other side. 

_"No,"_ he whispered. Zhao's footsteps were too close, he wouldn't have time to retrieve the sword, his knife was in his boot but he wasn't going to reach down and leave the back of his head vulnerable to an attack — 

His moment of panic was a moment too long. Zhao had caught up, had his hand on Zuko's shoulder, turned him around so his back was against the edge of the table —

"I am going to make you _pay_ for that," Zhao hissed, bracing his arm on Zuko's chest; his hand wrapped around Zuko's throat, _burning_ as he pressed down, pinning Zuko against the table. His other hand was raised, wreathed in fire, headed for Zuko's face, and Zuko forgot how to breathe, or move —

Footsteps raced through the cabin, and Zhao looked up. Zuko took advantage of the momentary distraction, kicking him in the knee as hard as he could; he heard a _crack!_ followed by an enraged, agonized shout; the hand aiming for his face slammed down on his shoulder instead, the flames still burning hot as they made contact —

Zuko thought the scream that followed might have come from him. The pain overwhelmed him as his vision faded. 

~

Hakoda had heard sounds of fighting on the _Akhlut_ just as he and the others were leaving Zhao's ship; they had found two unconscious (or dead) Fire Nation soldiers lying on the deck, Toklo and Jin fighting a third; Panuk was slumped against the railing, bleeding from a cut on his head. Bato finished off the one soldier still standing, and Hakoda looked away as the blood spattered over the deck. 

His eyes fell on a sword lying on the ground — it looked like one of Zuko's. Not far away was a small trail of red; drops of blood. The doorway to the cabin covered in scorch marks. 

_Oh, no._

He raced through the cabin, his club at the ready. As he reached the back door, a pained howl, full of rage, came from behind it. Not a full second later a choked scream followed it, pained and hopeless and dying too quickly. 

He threw open the door and charged in. The firebender whirled around to meet him, stumbling on a broken leg. Hakoda swung his club and it connected with the man's head; he fell to the ground with a thud, and Hakoda stepped over him in time to catch the smaller, unconscious body before it hit the floor. 

Zuko's right arm and throat both had huge burns, not as bad as the scar on his face, but bad enough to surely be painful. His left wrist had a bruise, and small crescent-shaped cuts like the marks left behind by fingernails. Hakoda sent a glare toward the firebender knocked out on the floor, who looked close enough to Zuko's description of the Fire Navy Captain. The boy in his arms drew in a sharp, pained breath as he he turned his head, hiding his face in Hakoda's shoulder.

Bato and Akela dealt with removing the bodies. Hakoda sat in the cabin, Zuko's head still on his shoulder, as he waited for Kustaa to finish cleaning the cut on Panuk's head. The isopuppy (whom Hakoda was thinking of naming Scuttles) darted around the room, tail wagging as he administered slobbery kisses to any crewmember lucky enough to be sitting on the floor. 

The healer grimaced when he sighted Zuko's burns, but plastered on a more pleasant look when Zuko looked at him. "It shouldn't be too bad," he said reassuringly. 

"Where was that bedside manner when I had a porcu-crab spike jammed under my toenail?" Toklo muttered, seated in his hammock and poking at a bruise on his upper arm. 

"Same place your braincells went when you decided to play with the porcu-crabs," Kustaa answered. 

Zuko swallowed with a lot of effort. "Porcu-crabs?" he said, his voice slightly hoarser than usual. It was the first Hakoda had heard him speak since he had woken up ten minutes before. At least he wasn't fainting again. He raised his chin, wincing, as Kustaa applied burn ointment to his neck. 

"Yeah. There was a little nest of like, five of them, living belowdeck when we first set sail. I had to help clear them out before we could leave," Toklo explained. "Dear old Uncle here —" he jerked a thumb toward Kustaa "was _very_ judgy when I showed up with a spike in my toe." 

Zuko made a small humming sound. "That sounds pretty stupid to me." He lowered his head as Kustaa finished winding bandages around his throat. "Did you blow up Zhao's ship?"

"We didn't have enough blasting jelly," Aake grumbled from where he sat in the corner, trimming his nails with his knife. "So we just got the engine room." 

Zuko didn't smile, but something like a tiny smirk raised the corner of his mouth. "I think I broke Zhao's leg," he said, raising his arm so Kustaa could work on it. 

"Good," Toklo said, redoing his own arm wraps over the bruise. "Though, what that guy deserves is a good old-fashioned kick to the jibblies."

 _"Please_ never use that word again." Zuko's tone was slightly desperate, like they'd had this conversation before. "There are so many other words you could use. Why that one." 

"There are _ladies_ present, Zuko."

"The _ladies_ would prefer if you never said the word 'jibblies' again, particularly in reference to a certain military firebender," Akela said. 

"Seconded," Jin said. 

"Thirded." Hakoda sighed, looking around the room at his crew. All of whom, with the exception of Zuko and Panuk, were uninjured aside from a few bruises and scratches. 

_Our first official battle, and the only ones who really got hurt weren't even properly involved,_ he thought. _Next time I'm anchoring further away from shore._ The ship being so close to the docks _had_ to be what had allowed this to happen — if Zhao had been forced to take a boat over to the _Akhlut,_ they would have been able to stop him before he reached it. 

_Hopefully, there won't **be** a next time. _

He looked down at Zuko — he was still amazed the boy wasn't more affected. Hakoda didn't like to think about how he would feel in the same situation. 

_(He tried very hard not to think how worried he had been upon seeing the burns, and how he had felt the last time he had come home and found someone he cared about, crumpled and burned on the ground. He thought about it anyway, and the two children he had left at home. Both younger than Zuko._

_And they were the ones expected to **protect** the village. In case of something like **this.**_

_He didn't sleep well that night.)_


	16. 16; 'wouldn't you like to know, grass boy?'

"I thought you'd already written to your Uncle," Jin asked, leaning across the desk. Zuko barely looked up from the paper in front of him, his tired eyes taking a break from following the movement of his hand and the brush.

"I did. A lot's happened since then." Zuko pointed at the bandage around his throat for emphasis. "I'm a traitor now. He should know."

"If Zhao's...dead," Jin began, "then shouldn't you be in the clear? Nobody's gonna know." 

" _If_ he's dead," Zuko pointed out. "That soldier I knocked overboard could have fished him out. Or someone waiting onshore." He shrugged, going back to writing. "Either way, Uncle still ought to know. From me, before Zhao or someone else can tell him first."

Jin shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat. I'm making tea. Want any?"

"Sure." Zuko nodded distractedly, tapping the end of the brush on the table as he thought. "That'd be good." 

Jin went into the kitchen, where Toklo was playing an intense game of Pai Sho with Panuk. 

"Hey, that's no fair, you cheated!" Toklo said, looking over the board.

"You were in the middle of a cheat move yourself," Panuk pointed out. "I thought that was just how we played the game."

Toklo tilted his head. "Not a bad idea..."

"You two are going to get killed one day if you keep cheating at everything," Jin remarked. 

"That's the fun of it," said Panuk, switching his and Toklo's pieces. Jin didn't even know how to play the game, but she knew that wasn't how it went. 

_Whatever._ She shook her head, getting the jar of tea leaves down from their shelf. 

When she came back from the kitchen, Zuko had lowered the brush, and was picking at a hangnail on his thumb while he looked over his writing. Jin set his tea on the desk, carefully far enough that it wouldn't spill on the letter. 

"Thanks," he said, moving the paper aside and pulling the cup closer. 

"We're coming up on the harbor," Bato informed them, stepping into the cabin. "Zuko —"

"I'll stay," Zuko said, fiddling with the bandage on his wrist. "I've had enough excitement for one week." He held his hand over the papers to dry the ink before stacking them up and adding them to the letter that he'd written days before. "I'll try and get that shirshu raven to take these to Uncle." 

Bato nodded, going on into the kitchen to inform Panuk and Toklo. Zuko sighed, rolling his letter up and securing it with a piece of string. His hands trembled slightly, and Jin wasn't sure if it was from the pain in his arms or the nervousness of confessing to his beloved Uncle about the casual treason he committed only a couple days ago. 

_(Actually, no, it was **definitely** the second one.)_

"Everyone ready?" Aake asked, peeking his head into the cabin. 

"Yeah," said Jin, finishing off her cup of tea. It was still hot and burnt her tongue, and she didn't miss Zuko's quiet laugh at her fumbling to get a drink of water. It was only because his shoulder was burnt that she didn't elbow it for payback. Jerk. 

As always, it felt nice to have solid earth under her feet as she left the ship. Due to the impromptu sabotage at the last port, they had to book it without buying all the supplies they needed. Luckily this one was only two days' sail, and still in Earth Kingdom hands. Jin gave one last wave over her shoulder to Zuko — he was standing on Panuk's shoulders, trying to reach the roof where the shirshu raven had been nesting since she arrived with Zuko's letter — before taking her place at the end of the dock.

 _Guarding shouldn't be too hard,_ she thought, leaning back and taking out a couple of rocks. She spun them over her hand, humming quietly as the others walked off toward town. 

~

Zuko climbed down from the roof, watching as the shirshu raven took off, his letter secured in the leather case on her back. He had debated with himself for a long time about whether or not to even write his uncle about Zhao, before deciding he needed to get it off his chest. 

It might be better than telling him in person. If he read it in a letter, the worst that could happen was Uncle not writing back, or conveying his disappointment in the letter (and he _had_ to be disappointed — he had been before, when Zuko had tried to refuse talking to Zhao. This was _so much worse,_ how could he _not_ be disappointed?)

If he told him through a letter, Uncle wouldn't be able to grill him for information on exactly how the fight went, and he wouldn't have to deal with being called a _coward_ or a _traitor_ in person —

 _He wouldn't do that,_ Zuko interrupted his own train of thought. _Uncle Iroh isn't like father. He wouldn't hurt you for trying to defend yourself._

 _He's always leaned more toward judgy silence,_ the other side of him begrudgingly agreed. _I can deal with judgy silence._

_Either way it isn't worth thinking about. He's not here. You already sent the letter. Just move on._

He landed on the deck in a crouch. Toklo had gone back inside already, he and Panuk probably cheating each other out of their wages again. 

Zuko headed for the cabin, but heard a shuffling sound over the creaking of the door. He frowned, turning around in time to catch a flash of red disappear behind a crate. 

Alarms went off in his brain. They'd only sailed three days from the last port — a rider on a komodo-rhino could have gotten here in that time, easy. Someone must have made it back to the warship. 

He drew his swords, grimacing at the brownish-red stain on one of the blades — he hadn't ever gotten around to cleaning the blood off, his shoulder had hurt too much to move for the first day and then he'd forgotten...

Oh, well. They were just going to get dirty again, weren't they? He could worry about cleaning them when he wasn't in danger. 

He stepped closer, peering over the crate — 

Nothing. There was nothing there but the stray goose-goat feathers that had missed being swept up that morning.

_Then where...?_

There was a single loud footstep to warn him before a blur of red leaped at him from his right. He turned quickly, which had the _helpful_ effect of him getting hit full in the chest rather than the side, landing on his back with the wind knocked out of him. His attacker straddled his chest, their knees and feet pinning his arms to the deck, the tip of a shoe pressing into the bruise on his wrist, the pressure stinging the half-healed imprints of Zhao's fingernails. The whole weight of their body rested on his chest, restricting his breathing.

The point of a knife was at his throat, pressing painfully on the still-bandaged burn. No fire this time — it had to be a non-bender, then —

The pressure on his neck was gone. Air rushed into Zuko's lungs as the weight eased off his chest; that was all he needed to push his own body upward and tackle the other person to the deck. They landed with an undignified _thump,_ the knife flying out of their hand and landing by the rail. Zuko planted both knees on their chest, crossing his swords over their neck. 

Coal-colored eyes, wide in fear and anger, stared up at him. 

The attacker was no Fire Nation soldier — he looked _way_ too young, and while the sleeveless shirt he had on was red, it was oversized, like it was borrowed _(or stolen)_ from someone a lot bigger. His hair was long and unruly, and distinctly _not_ up in a topknot. He had a stalk of grass in his mouth. _Stupid._

"What do you want?" Zuko demanded, pressing the blades forward. "Why are you here?"

The boy scowled, defiant. "What are _you_ doing here? This isn't an Earth Kingdom ship."

"Shut up and give me an answer! Who are you?" 

The boy clenched his jaw stubbornly. "Who are _you?"_

"I'm —" Zuko was _not_ giving this— this _maniac_ his real name. "Lee."

"What's your boat doing here, _Lee_ _?"_

"Wouldn't you like to know, _grass boy?"_

"Hey!" Grass Boy shoved Zuko's swords aside — _Damn it, should have pinned his arms —_ and rolled, knocking Zuko onto his shoulder on the deck. 

_"Ow —!"_ Zuko hissed, tears springing to his eyes. He glared at Grass Boy, kicking at him; Grass Boy rolled out of the way, drawing his own twin weapons — _come on,_ hook swords? _Really?_

"Too slow, Lee," he smugged; Zuko had never thought of _smug_ as a verb, but this guy radiated so much puffed-up, overconfident energy that there was no other word for it. Also, Zuko was in pain; he figured he could be forgiven for a momentary lapse in vocabulary. It wasn't like Grass Boy was going to correct him. 

"What's going on out there?"

Toklo and Panuk walked out of the cabin, weapons at the ready. Toklo swept a glare over the grass-chewing idiot, his eyes narrowing. Panuk's gaze flickered from Zuko's swords to the both of them lying on the deck, to the knife laying by the railing, to Grass Boy's twin tiger heads; he didn't look happy once he'd mentally joined the pieces of the all-too-simple puzzle. 

Zuko smirked; Grass Boy's own smirk melted away like snow in Caldera. 

Zuko thought he could pinpoint the exact moment Grass Boy realized he had screwed up. 


	17. 17; 'and here's why you shouldn't let kids have swords.'

Jet had only been curious about the weird boat in the harbor. 

It wasn't like this was a bustling port; they didn't get a lot of visitors. The only other boats out there were the ones the townspeople used for fishing. 

This boat looked nothing like any of them, or any other boat he'd ever seen. It didn't look like an Earth Kingdom merchant vessel, or a Fire Nation warship. It looked totally out-of-place with its blue sails. But it wasn't a pirate ship, either, was it?

He decided to have a look around. It couldn't hurt. And if it _did_ turn out to be Fire Nation...he had a pair of spark rocks in his pocket for a reason. 

The girl sitting on the dock didn't see him slip past, too busy watching the road to notice him right behind her. He leapt up to the ship, catching the railing with one of his hooks and pulling himself up. 

There was someone on the roof of the cabin, tying something on the back of an odd-looking bird. They stayed there for a moment, watching the bird take off, before climbing down. 

Jet ducked and rolled behind a crate, with any luck before they could see him. 

His luck wasn't that good. Footsteps came right towards the crate. He had to get _out_ of there — he rolled to the side again, getting to his feet _._

The sailor had drawn a pair of swords — one of which had a dried stain of brownish-red that Jet didn't think was _rust._

Jet clenched his jaw, drawing his knife, and took a leap.

The sailor turned while Jet was still in the air, leading Jet to crash right into their chest. That was good. Jet could work with that, easy. He straddled their chest, pinning their arms to the deck with his feet. The sailor let out an undignified _Oof,_ the wind knocked out of their lungs. 

With his knife pressed to the sailor's throat, Jet was able to pause and get a better look. 

The first thing he noticed was the long, dark ponytail, spread out like a fan. The rest of the boy's hair was shorn to a length of only half an inch or so; it wasn't a good look, but Jet had seen worse. 

There was a massive scar across half of Ponytail's face, and Jet grimaced. Whatever could have caused that must have _hurt,_ a lot. 

More importantly, though, a Fire Nation soldier wouldn't have a scar like that. And wouldn't be so _small,_ unless the conscription age had been lowered again. It wasn't like Jet had _expected_ Fire Nation soldiers anyway — _they_ didn't sail _wooden_ boats. 

Ponytail looked to be in pain, and scared, and Jet noticed for the first time the bandage around his neck. The knife was pressing into it, that had to hurt —

Jet moved to back off, taking his weight off Ponytail's chest; Ponytail gasped in a huge breath, muscles tensing. 

The next second a hard shoulder collided with Jet's stomach, knocking him on his back. The knife flew out of Jet's hand, clattering on the deck ten feet away. Ponytail climbed on top of Jet, his knees on Jet's chest and those bloodstained twin swords crossed right over Jet's throat, _too close,_ and glaring at him.

"What do you want?" Ponytail hissed, his blades pushing against Jet's neck. "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Jet fired back, scowling. "This isn't an Earth Kingdom ship." 

"Shut up and give me an answer! Who are you?" 

Pfft. Like Jet was going to _answer_ that. "Who are _you?"_

"I'm —" Ponytail paused, scowling. "Lee."

Yeah, right. No way was that his real name. "What's your boat doing here, _Lee?"_

"Wouldn't you like to know, _grass boy?"_

"Hey!" Jet growled. First of all, it was _wheat,_ not _grass._ Second, who did _Ponytail_ think he was to be calling names? Jet shoved the swords away from him, rolling over and sending Ponytail sprawling on the deck. He landed on his (also bandaged) shoulder, and _whined._

 _"Ow —"_ he hissed, turning a teary-eyed glare on Jet and kicking at him. Jet lazily moved out of the way, drawing his twin hooks from their scabbards on his back (Ponytail gained a look of affront). 

"Too slow, _Lee."_ Jet smirked, satisfied he was winning. 

His satisfaction faded a moment later. 

"What's going on out there?"

Two men in blue tunics matching the one Lee wore stepped through the open door of the cabin, one with a knife made from an animal's jaw and the other brandishing a sharpened, angled piece of metal. The shorter, more muscular one leveled a murderous glare at Jet, his piercing blue eyes narrowed. The taller one's expression shifted to match his companion's, his darker eyes taking in the scene. 

_I'm good, but I don't think I can take these guys._

 _I screwed up, didn't I?_ Jet thought ruefully.

Ponytail's stupid, smug smirk agreed with him. 

_~_

Toklo did not like the look of this guy. His smug expression was gone, but he still had those huge hooks in his hands, in that dumb, cocky 'come-at-me' stance. The one kids at home always, without fail, did the first time they picked up their weapons for training, usually right before slipping on ice and landing on their ass.

And sure, Zuko did that too when he was practicing a fighting form, but he was actually trained, and landed on his ass very rarely. This guy was currently crouched on the ground, obviously post-ass-landing.

Plus, he had that dumb piece of hay in his mouth. Totally unsafe for a fight, it'd serve him right if he choked on it.

Zuko got to his feet, his left hand massaging his bandaged right shoulder. His eyes looked watery, and it wasn't hard to tell what had happened. 

"He attacked me," he explained anyway, pointing to the stranger with his right hand (still holding a sword, Toklo noticed).

"He got his swords out first!" the newcomer protested, swinging a hook to point at Zuko. "I was getting him down before he could kill me!"

"I wasn't going to _kill_ you," Zuko said, slightly choked up. "I was prepared to defend myself! I thought you were a Fire Nation soldier!" He raised the sword as if to emphasize his point. " _And_ I was right to think I _needed_ to defend myself!"

"I was _backing off,"_ the other boy (Toklo really had to learn his name, he wasn't good with epithets) defended. 

"You had a _knife_ to my _throat."_ Zuko's voice cracked, again as if to emphasize a point. His face reddened, and Hook-Sword-Guy snorted with laughter. Toklo glared at him, anger flaring up. Hooks sobered, his eyes flicking to the blade in Toklo's hand. _Good. He's not completely stupid._

Panuk gave Hooks a dark look. "What are you doing on our ship?" he asked, sounding a lot more menacing now than just a few minutes ago playing Pai Sho. Toklo didn't trust himself to speak, it would probably come out as yelling. 

"I wanted to look around. Make sure you weren't with the Fire Nation." Hooks looked at them, suspicious. "You're not, are you?"

"Are _you?"_ Panuk countered. "You're the one in red." 

"Do I _look_ like Fire Nation to you?" 

_No,_ Toklo decided, looking from Hooks to Zuko. _Definitely not._

"Get lost, then." Panuk jerked his head toward the gangplank. "Next time you feel like being nosy, think again. And if you come back here..."

Hooks scoffed, getting to his feet and sheathing his hooks. "Like I'd do that. I'm not stupid." 

"Could've fooled me," Zuko mumbled. Hooks jerked his head to look at him.

"What?"

"Nothing." Zuko huffed. "Have a nice day, Grass Boy." 

The aforementioned Grass Boy sent Zuko a murderous glare.

"Stop calling me that!"

"You're the one who wouldn't tell me your name. _Grass Boy."_

"You testing me, _Ponytail?"_

"Maybe I am. What are you gonna do about it?"

"Why don't you _find out?"_ The hooks were out again. Zuko raised his sword, picking up the other one —

"Alright, break it up, guys!" Toklo stepped between the two heavily armed teenagers, holding his hands out. "You. Hooks. Get off the ship. Zuko, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Zuko growled, leaning around Toklo to glare at the other boy. Hooks snarled right back. Toklo was reminded of his brother's two deer-dogs, always at each other's throats. 

_"Tui's gills,"_ he muttered, turning and putting his hands on Hooks' shoulders, steering him to the ramp. "Leave. Now." 

The boy sent him one last scowl before stalking off. 

"The name is _Jet,_ by the way," he growled. "And it's my _real_ name, _Lee."_

Zuko rolled his eyes, putting his swords away, and went back into the cabin without another word. 

Toklo sighed, putting his blade back in his belt. "Couldn't we just have one normal supply stop?" 

Panuk scoffed. "We can dream."


	18. 18; 'Chief Hakoda: Wayward Child Magnet'

The crew returned in the early evening, along with a small pack (flock? herd?) of excessively huge birds, and spent the rest of the evening getting them into the aviary belowdeck. Scuttles (as Chief Hakoda had aptly named the isopuppy) and Yuki had followed them back and forth up and down the stairs, getting underfoot and being altogether nosy about the newest arrivals, until Chief Hakoda delegated Zuko and Jin to pet-sitting duty. 

It wasn't that bad a job, all things considered. Staying in the cabin, _not_ getting their eyes pecked out by birds? Dream come true, in Zuko's opinion. He could use some relaxation. And to keep both eyeballs mostly intact. 

"I can't believe he got past me," Jin said for what seemed like the fiftieth time. It was probably the third. "I was watching the road so carefully! How could I have missed someone walking right up to the ship?"

Zuko managed a shrug, leaning over the edge of his bunk to scratch Yuki between her wings. "How am I supposed to know?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable as the topic turned to _him_ again. Zuko had hoped that staying on the ship, being docked at an Earth Kingdom town, he could feel _safe._ It made no sense at all that he had felt safer on the open ocean during his first week on the _Akhlut_ as a prisoner. 

_It's just one thing after another,_ he thought, his shoulder starting to ache as the awkward position pulled the burned skin. He gave Yuki a pat on the head before rolling onto his back again, resting his arm at his side. 

"You doing okay?" Jin asked, coming over to sit on the floor at the head of his bunk. Zuko sighed, closing his eyes. 

"Other than wishing I could stop being pathetic and go a couple days without getting hurt and putting a burden on everyone because I can't do basic work in this condition? I'm fine."

Jin's hand ran through his hair, twirling the longer strands that had come loose from his ponytail. "You're not a burden. It's not your fault you keep getting hurt." 

Zuko shrugged, not bothering to argue with her. 

Silence, for just a few moments. Then —

_"Didn't I tell you to get lost?"_

Zuko frowned, sitting up. The shout — Panuk's — had come from outside. He stood up, going to the door and opening it an inch to look out. 

_Oh, for Agni's sake._

Jin came up behind him, looking over his shoulder. "Great, this guy again?"

"I came to apologize!" Jet held his hands up, defensive. "I didn't mean any harm coming here earlier." 

Out of Zuko's line of sight, he heard Toklo scoff. "Great. You've made your apology, now skedaddle."

"Wait!" Jet reached out for a second, before quickly pulling his hand back. "I want to speak with your captain."

"Why?" Panuk asked suspiciously. 

"I want to join your crew."

"This is a military vessel," Toklo pointed out. "You're too young." 

"What about the other guy? _Lee?_ He looks even younger than me."

"We didn't hire him, we rescued him. He's staying with us until his relatives catch up." 

"The girl?"

"Stowaway. She's getting off once we get near Ba Sing Se." 

Jet scoffed. "They still do your work. They still _fight._ Lee didn't get those wounds from a _waterbender."_

Zuko's nails dug into the wood of the door frame _._

"Let me speak to your captain. If he says no, I'll go. But I have to _try —_ I want to bring down the Fire Nation." 

"Your family okay with you running off like this?" 

Jet dropped his tough act for just a split second before scowling.

"I wouldn't know. They're dead." 

There was a palpable silence before Panuk cleared his throat, making a beckoning gesture. "Toklo. A word?"

He walked out of Zuko's sight. Jet leaned against the rail, tapping his fingers on the wood. He somehow managed to look nervous and annoyed at the same time.

"There's no way Chief Hakoda's gonna let him join," Jin said quietly. "Come on, let's close the door before the dog escapes."

Zuko nodded, nudging Scuttles aside with his foot and closing the door. 

~

"Chief, there's no _way_ you're gonna let him join —"

"He's a _maniac —"_

"Not even of age —"

_"Knife to Zuko's throat —"_

Hakoda pressed his fingers to his temples, sighing. His youngest crewmen kept on talking over each other, gesturing emphatically enough that he was glad there were no lanterns or jars within close range, or they'd be broken on the floor. 

"So you _can't_ let him join," Toklo finished, nearly smacking his hand on the wall. 

"I wouldn't advise it, Chief," Panuk said, a lot more calmly. "I think his heart's in the right place, but he's just too _young."_

Hakoda sighed, looking at them. "I think you might be right," he said. "But I'd like to speak with him anyway. There's a chance he has information we could use."

Toklo huffed. "Should we bring him in?"

Hakoda nodded. "Please."

Toklo walked out, dragging Panuk by the wrist. 

He returned approximately three minutes later, tailed by what had to be the scruffiest child Hakoda had ever seen. 

"Here he is," Toklo said unceremoniously, gesturing to the boy before turning on his heel and waltzing out. 

_I need to speak with him about his attitude,_ Hakoda thought. _Later._

"You're the captain?" the boy asked. He didn't look impressed. Hakoda tried not to feel insulted.

"Yes," he answered. "And you are?"

"Jet." The boy leaned against a crate, fiddling with the piece of straw in his mouth and feigning nonchalance, in the way only a teenage boy trying too hard could. 

(Hakoda was allowed to say that. He had once _been_ a teenage boy trying too hard. Mom and Bato, and Kya for that matter, had never let him live that down.)

"What are you here for, Jet?" he asked, looking at him. 

(He really hadn't been able to make out much of what Panuk and Toklo had said. They'd repeatedly ignored his requests to talk one at a time.)

"I want to say sorry for attacking your crewman earlier," Jet said. "I thought he was going to attack me and I acted before he could."

Hakoda guessed this was about the _'knife to Zuko's throat'_ thing (which Zuko strangely hadn't even mentioned, even while complaining about the 'asshole' he had encountered and fought). 

"I'm not in a position to accept your apology," he said. "Zuko's the one you attacked, so he's the one you need to apologize to." 

Jet's angular, tapered eyebrows rose a fraction as his eyes widened; a second later his expression settled again to something like grudging acceptance.

"Alright."

Hakoda sighed. "Is there anything else?" he asked, knowing the answer.

Jet took the straw out of his mouth, his dark _(jet-black)_ eyes meeting Hakoda's.

"I want to join your crew."


	19. 19; 'there's a certain reasonable wariness that comes with someone trying to stab you in the throat.'

Jet walked into his camp, tossing his swords in a corner and sitting down with a contented sigh. 

"I can't believe that _worked,"_ he mused out loud, chuckling to himself. Who would think the old _'I'm actually sixteen, I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet'_ trick would work that well? 

_I'll have to try that more often._

The look on the knife-wielding crewman's face when Jet came out of the office-slash-storage room had been _priceless._ The guy had clearly been listening at the door, and didn't like what he'd heard. 

Of course, it was only a trial period; he would have to be careful and not slip up. He didn't like the idea of getting booted off at the next port. 

He _really_ didn't like the idea of mucking up his (so-far) only chance at having _help_ taking down the Fire Nation since leaving the woods outside Gaipan. 

(' _Leaving'_ was a mild way of putting ' _dragged off in cuffs for knocking out the arrogant sideburned jerk who burnt down half the forest and nearly killed everyone in it',_ but it took less time to say or think.

Jet had heard said sideburned jerk had gotten his comeuppance and been chucked in the ocean a few towns over. Good on whoever did that; Jet wished he could have seen it.)

Sighing, Jet pulled himself to his feet and began gathering his belongings. He could leave the tent here — someone else would need it more than him, eventually.

The weapons (his hook swords, two daggers and a slingshot) went in a sack along with the money he'd managed to grab off that Fire Nation soldier he'd found sleeping on the job last month; bandages, needle and thread, and half a dusty jar of homemade burn salve went in another bag. 

Clothes, blankets, and eating utensils went in the last bag, and he was ready to leave. 

He got to the ship as the sun set. 

Lee (or _Zuko)_ was waiting by the railing, a scowl on his face. That was fair, since Jet had gotten _very_ close to killing him. 

"Grass Boy," he greeted; Jet fought down a growl of irritation. "What are you doing back here?"

Jet put down his bags. "Joining the crew. Though, actually, I need to apologize to you first."

The other boy looked at Jet like he'd just said he was going to join a circus as a fire swallower.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," Jet said, deciding not to repeat himself. "For attacking you. I meant to defend myself, but I went too far."

Lee muttered something that sounded like _'this can't be happening.'_ "Apology accepted, I guess," he said, turning around. "I'll tell the Chief you're here." 

Jet smiled, surprised at the easy acceptance. "Thanks." 

"Yeah, whatever." Lee waved it off, walking toward the cabin. Jet frowned. _What's this guy's problem?_

_Probably the fact you tried to stab him._

_Oh yeah, right. My bad._

Jet leaned against the rail, waiting for Lee to return. 

~

Zuko had to pause after closing the door, to get over the shock of finding Jet on the ship _again._ He wasn't _afraid_ of the guy (he ate _grass_ , for Agni's sake) but there's a certain reasonable wariness that comes with someone trying to stab you in the throat. 

He couldn't _really_ hold it against Jet — in all fairness, Zuko _was_ Fire Nation, _royalty_ at that. He should have expected this, by now. And there wasn't any real harm done; Jet had backed off. Zuko had only been hurt when he landed on his already injured shoulder. 

Still. It came as a pretty big surprise that Chief Hakoda had actually _let_ the guy join the crew. He looked about Toklo's age (maybe), but his voice hadn't even finished changing yet, and he was _skinny._

Plus, he chewed grass. Zuko just could _not_ get past that, and thought Chief Hakoda ought to have better taste. 

Speaking of which. 

"Chief Hakoda? Jet's here," he said, pointing to the closed door over his shoulder. The Chief looked up from the papers he was writing on, slightly startled. 

"Already?" Zuko nodded. "Alright, tell him he can come in. There's a bunk cleared off for him." Chief Hakoda gestured with his quill to the empty bunk on the same wall as Zuko's and Jin's. 

_Great. Now I'll have **three** lunatics talking my ear off while I try to sleep. _Toklo had already moved his hammock closer to the wall weeks ago, and he and Jin were worse than anyone Zuko had ever met about having late-night conversations. With Zuko's luck, Jet would be worse. 

He went back out, walking over to Jet.

"Your bunk is on the right, closest to the door," he announced, pointing to the open cabin door. "You can go in." 

Jet's face lit up like a kid at an Ember Island festival whose older cousin agreed to share his extra-spicy Fire Flakes; a moment later he carefully schooled it into the dumb smirk he usually had, reminding Zuko more of a kid shooting a ball of fire at the sand on which her brother was about to step, barefoot. 

"Thanks, _Lee."_ He made an aborted motion, like he was going to punch Zuko on the shoulder but thought better of it. Zuko had seen plenty of those motions from Akela and Ranalok. "See ya." 

Zuko fought the urge to roll his eyes. "We're living on the same ship," he grumbled. 

"Right. Observant." Jet smirked wider, walking off into the cabin. Zuko sighed, shaking his head and sitting down with his back against the railing. 

_How am I gonna survive this?_

_~_

Jet looked a lot less threatening up close. His hair looked soft, hanging nearly to his shoulders, and oh-so-fluffy. Slightly curly, even. His eyebrows were a little funky, but hey, so were Uncle Enlai's, he couldn't help it. 

She could even understand the wheat thing — he probably had his reasons. She just hoped he'd packed extra, because it was gonna be a while before he could stock up again.

He seemed pretty curious about the ship, but not in an ' _I'm-casing-the-joint-so-I-can-loot-this-place_ ' way. At least, Jin _hoped_ it wasn't in that way. He didn't seem like the type to do that, though, so she was cautiously optimistic. 

One thing was for sure; he had almost _definitely_ been lying when he said he was sixteen. He was a little taller than Jin, sure, but his voice hadn't even really changed yet, and he generally just _looked_ younger. 

Jin supposed she couldn't judge him. She wasn't on the ship by _honest_ means, either.

~

"So," Jet said, sitting crosslegged on his bed with a cup of tea. His dinner bowl sat by his side, empty. "What's the story with Ponytail over there?" He jerked his head toward Zuko, who was on the floor trying (unsuccessfully) to get his spoon back from Scuttles.

Toklo, sitting on Zuko's bunk next to Jin, hesitated, his spoon paused over his bowl.

"Like I said, we rescued him, a couple months ago. Pulled him out out of the water a couple days after a storm." Was he being purposely vague? Yes. 

"And you kept him?" Jet prompted. 

"He was too hurt to leave once we got to shore." Toklo omitted the part where they'd planned to sell him back to the Firelord for their imprisoned waterbenders. That wasn't Jet's business. 

_He almost killed Zuko on the **assumption** that he **could** be Fire Nation. Imagine if he knew Zuko was the **Firelord's** **son.**_

Toklo didn't _want_ to imagine it. He finished his sea prunes quickly and took all the empty dishes to the kitchen. 

_I hope Hakoda knows what he's doing,_ he thought.

~

Jet had, within ten minutes of sitting down to eat, noticed several of the crewmen call the guy _'Zuko'_ instead of Lee. This further solidified his theory that ' _Lee_ ' was a fake name, probably made up on the spot and not agreed upon with the others.

Jet hated the Fire Nation, but he wasn't uneducated about them. He knew that Zuko was a Fire Nation name — some member of the royal family was named that, he was pretty sure. No Earth Kingdom citizen would name their kid that. And most Earth Kingdom folk didn't have eyes like that — they almost looked gold. 

He wasn't a firebender, of that Jet was reasonably sure — he'd been on a wooden boat for months, and hadn't managed to burn it down (there were fresh scorch marks on the doorways, but according to Jin there had been an attack from the Fire Navy a few days ago — other than that there were no signs of damage). 

Plus, he wielded his weapons like a trained swordsman. Jet had yet to meet a firebender who would pick steel over flames. 

He couldn't be loyal to the Fire Nation, either, if he was staying on the Water Tribe ship and _defending_ it. 

He had to be a colony kid. Probably tossed out for being a non-bender. It wasn't a _common_ occurrence, to his knowledge, but it wasn't unheard of, especially among higher society — rumor had it the Firelord himself had, years ago, rejected his newborn heir for not _looking_ enough like a bender.

If Lee's mother or father were some kind of government figure — a mayor or governor of one of the colonies, maybe — that scar on his face might tell a different story. 

More than a couple of the Freedom Fighters had scars that told the same or a similar story, though not usually so _visible_ at a first glance.

Lee probably had just as much reason to hate the Fire Nation as Jet did. 

Jet would still keep an eye on Lee, of course. The guy seemed impulsive and hotheaded, and it was probably best to stay on his good side. But it was also probably safe to assume he wasn't going to be roasted alive. 

Probably. 

Jet hid a knife under his pillow just in case. 


	20. 20; 'Jet's the impostor; here's half a chapter of him venting.'

The storm outside had been raging on-and-off (but mostly on) for two days. The crew had migrated to the belowdeck cabins in the wee hours that morning, after a series of unfortunate impromptu indoor showers had indicated a need for heavy repairs on the roof. Repairs that would have to wait until they were no longer in danger of getting knocked off the deck by the gale-force wind and fist-sized raindrops. 

The belowdecks area was a definite improvement by Zuko's standards. There were no windows, so there was no worry of a piece of the mast falling through a window and skewering someone. 

The rocking seemed less intense, probably because they were closer to the ship's center of gravity or something. Zuko thought he might actually be able to sleep through the night without getting tossed on the ground.

It was _cold,_ though. Not nearly as bad as it would be in winter, thankfully, but the chill definitely got to him worse than above the deck, where the sun could warm the boards. After changing out of his wet clothes, he had grabbed a blanket, huddling in a corner. 

It hadn't been very long before Jin wandered over, bundled in her own blanket with a towel wrapped around her soaked hair, and laid down with her head on his lap. Toklo had come over soon after, sitting on his other side and resting his arm across Zuko's shoulders. The little bit of body warmth that gave made him feel a little better about the situation. 

Then Jet started walking over, and Zuko decided that no, he didn't feel better. 

Jet sat down by Jin's feet, taking the grass out of his mouth. 

"Do you get storms like this a lot?" he asked, leaning against the wall and twisting the grass around his fingers. He seemed more on edge than usual, which Zuko didn't take as a good sign. 

"Not really," Toklo said. "We can generally steer clear in time, but this one snuck up on us."

Jet nodded. He stuck the grass back in his mouth, turning his face downward. His hands clenched into fists pressed palms-down against the floor. 

A loud rumble of thunder seemed to shake the whole ship. Zuko gritted his teeth, pushing himself as far into the corner as possible, like it might help give him some stability; Jin reached up, her hand closing loosely around his wrist. 

"You okay?" she asked quietly. 

"Fine," he replied through his teeth. In truth, the very air around him felt agitated and angry, and it put a stress on his nerves. He was starting to sympathize with Scuttles, who had been pacing and panting all day, growling if he heard thunder. The other crewmen were doing their best to calm him down. 

_No fair,_ he thought. _When dogs are upset it's all 'poor thing' this and 'what's wrong' that. With people it's always 'go to your room until you're done crying' or 'suck it up and finish your katas'._

He bit back a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. _A dog. You're jealous of a dog. That's, like, rock bottom. Do better, Zuko._

"Is anyone else hungry?" Toklo asked, interrupting his thoughts. 

"I could eat," Jin agreed. Zuko shrugged. 

"Sure." 

There was a creak of floorboards as Toklo leaned around Zuko. "You want anything, Jet?"

"No, thanks." 

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind." 

Toklo stood up, walking out of the room. Jin sat up, laying her arm over Zuko's shoulders where Toklo's had been before and leaning her full weight on him. It felt better than Toklo's tense, trying-not-to-squish-him half-lean. Zuko laid his head on her shoulder, letting the tension drain out of him little by little. 

He barely realized it when he was dropping off to sleep. 

~

Jin sat still until she was sure Zuko was fast asleep. Spirits knew he needed a break. He'd been so on edge since Jet showed up, and she knew the storm just made it worse. 

Speaking of Jet, he wasn't looking so hot either. He kept fidgeting with his wheat, twisting it around his fingers, plucking off seeds, and staring at the floor in a never-ending cycle of stress. 

"Are you okay?" she asked, lowering her voice to avoid waking Zuko. 

"I'm fine." Jet tossed a seed onto the floor, sticking the wheat back in his mouth. "Just being stuck in here."

Jin could understand; the belowdecks cabin was bigger than the one above, but because none of the hammocks were put up yet, everyone had to sit on the floor. It made it feel smaller. The lack of windows didn't help, even if it was safer without them. She couldn't blame him for feeling claustrophobic.

"I see," she said, reaching up to check if her hair was dry; the towel wound around it was starting to feel heavy. "At least we're not soaking wet anymore," she said, trying to take a glass-half-full approach. Jet shrugged. 

"I'm used to sleeping in the rain." 

Jin frowned. "You are?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Not a whole lot of options — the tree fort I used to live in kept pretty dry, but I haven't been able to build one in my new patch of woods."

 _Oh._ Jin hadn't stopped to consider that when he'd said he had no family, he _meant_ it. And a single teenager could hardly keep a house. She winced in sympathy; at least she'd had Aunt and Uncle to stay with after her parents died. 

"That stinks."

"Yeah." He half-shrugged. "But it could have been worse. I could still be in a Fire Nation prison cell, wearing rags and having to fight the bigger inmates just for food." 

Jin's stomach dropped. "You were in a prison? Why?"

He scowled. "Some jerk set fire to the woods after me and my..." he hesitated. "My family, or what was left of it, wouldn't leave our _home_." Jet huffed bitterly, leaning back and stretching out his legs. "We fought back, but there were a lot of soldiers with him. So I told the others to run, and did my best to take him down."

"Did you?" 

Jet snorted. "Knocked him out, at least, but they still dragged me halfway across the country to put me in a prison." He looked down. "I don't even know if the others made it out okay. And I have no way of finding out..."

"Unless you can go back," Jin realized. "And now that you're a part of the crew..."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. It's quicker than _walking_ back home." 

Jin nodded, giving him a small smile. "I hope they're okay." 

Jet's smile turned sad. "So do I."

~

Toklo came back into the cabin, carrying a covered pot of sea prunes and a few bowls, and found Jin was the only one awake; Zuko was fast asleep on one shoulder, Jet dozing off on the other. Noticing Toklo, she raised a finger to her lips in a hushing gesture, pointing to the two boys. 

Toklo sighed, sitting down against the wall. It was probably gonna be a while before anyone woke up enough to eat, so he should probably go ahead and get some rest too. 

"Night, Jin." 

"Sweet dreams," she replied. 

He laid his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. 


	21. 21; 'a little break from all the doom and gloom'

Jet couldn't remember a time when he'd slept that well. Jin's shoulder was more comfortable than any of the leaf-stuffed sacks he'd laid his head on over the past months, and her arm around his shoulders provided a comforting, grounding weight he hadn't had since leaving home. 

He kept his eyes closed for a few minutes even after waking up, trying to savor the little bit of relaxation. He could almost forget he wasn't at home in the fort with his kids, listening to the rain pour on the leaves and tarp over their heads.

~

Zuko hadn't even known how tense he'd beenuntil he woke up feeling utterly, completely relaxed for the first time in what felt like _years._

Jin's arm had moved, her hand resting on his side now (probably to avoid the injured shoulder) and was holding him close to her with what felt like the barest effort (which was enough, of course).

He drifted off again, to the sound of the rain over his head and Jin's breath ruffling his hair, and it was almost like sitting through a storm on Ember Island with Mom again. 

~

Jin stayed awake as long as she could, but sleep finally caught up to her; she dozed off, the warmth on either side of her reminding her of winters spent as a kid at her aunt's (not Aunt Mei-Li, her other aunt), sharing a bed with her little cousins. 

Though, Zuko and Jet were a lot less prone to kicking and blanket-stealing than said cousins. And for that she was thankful. 


	22. 22; 'believe it or not, this tea is an improvement!'

Zuko woke up again at midday, curled up on the floor; Jin must have gotten up without him noticing. She'd thoughtfully put a pillow under his head. 

Not even a foot away, Jet was sprawled on his back, his messy hair even messier than usual. His mouth grass kept fluttering with his snores, and Zuko stifled a snort of laughter. It wasn't _that_ funny. 

Zuko managed to crawl out of the blankets he had inadvertently gotten tangled in, and staggered, still half-sleeping, to the room where their water and food were being kept until repairs could be made on the roof. 

He searched through jars and small boxes until he found the tea leaves he was looking for, and poured the remains of a near-empty jug of water into the chipped teapot, before adding the leaves. 

Normally he would meditate using one of the many candles Toklo had purchased him ( _'There were a lot of scents and I didn't know which one you'd like so I got all the ones that weren't flat-out gross, don't worry they were super cheap'),_ but between his frazzled state and the confines of the wooden walls, Zuko didn't want to risk it. An overheated teapot could hardly set the room on fire. 

He settled into the nook between a crate and the wall, cradling the teapot in his hands. 

_In. 1, 2, 3, 4._

_Out. 1, 2, 3, 4._

_In the nose and out the mouth._

_Release the heat through your hands and breathe to control it._ The same basic principle as with a candle, just modified so that instead of it being a flame he was controlling, it was the heat in the water. _Uncle would be so proud_ , he managed to think without an ounce of sarcasm. 

The tea heated up far quicker and hotter than he intended, but it was a marginal improvement from a couple days before, when it had actually boiled over and ended up burning his hands. Not horribly, but bad enough to be irritating whenever he put his hand down the rest of the day. 

He set the pot and a few cups down on a tray, heating the stovetop so that if Jet woke up, he wouldn't be suspicious. Not that Zuko expected Jet to get up and check if the stove was hot first thing after waking up, but one could never be too careful. And Jet was a total weirdo, so there was really no telling. 

The storm had died down somewhat, it seemed, and the ship didn't rock so badly as he went back to the cabin. He sat down by the wall, balancing the tray in his lap, and took a sip from his own cup. It tasted like boiled grass, which was par for the course for tea he'd made. 

_I'll make Jet drink the rest,_ he decided. _He chews grass all the time, he should be fine with it, right?_

He was forced to put that thought aside when Chief Hakoda walked over. 

"Mind if I sit?" he asked. Zuko bit his lip.

_Why'd he bother asking? He's the one in charge here, it's not up to me where he sits._

"Go ahead," he answered, taking another sip of grassy tea. The Chief sat down, cross-legged, facing Zuko. Zuko wondered if it would be more polite to offer him tea or to spare him the pain of drinking it. 

"I've been meaning to ask you something," Chief Hakoda said, and Zuko almost choked on his tea. 

What on _Earth_ could he possibly know, that Chief Hakoda would _want_ to know? After the mishap with Zhao, Zuko had given the Chief all the information he _had_ about the Fire Navy. It wasn't much, and Hakoda had seemed to already know most of it. 

"Okay," Zuko said, trying not to be nervous. "What is it?" 

"What do you plan to do if we reach our rendezvous point before your Uncle catches up?" 

The question completely blindsided Zuko. He hadn't even _considered_ the possibility that Uncle wouldn't catch up before — he _had_ to. 

"That's not going to happen," he said, more harshly than he meant. "Uncle's going to catch up." 

The Chief gave him an unreadable look; the corner of his mouth twitched slightly downwards. 

"What if he doesn't?" 

Zuko could feel the cup in his hand growing hotter. He put it down, clenching his fists. "He _will._ Why wouldn't he?"

_Because the ship he's on is a piece of junk, because he wastes time on everything, because if he wasn't disappointed in me before **,** he certainly **will** be when he hears that I've betrayed my country and gotten several of my countrymen killed. Because **he's** not a traitorous **idiot.**_

"Still, it's always good to think ahead," the Chief said gently. Zuko huffed. "If you don't have a plan, maybe you should make one. It may not be safe to take you into our camp, for obvious reasons." 

Zuko ground his teeth. _Obvious reasons._

"You're recognizable," Hakoda elaborated. "If that Captain or anyone associated with him managed to get the word out...word travels fast, and not all our warriors are so open-minded."

 _Recognizable._ The word made the burn across his face ache. His nails dug into the floor. 

"So what?" he ground out between his teeth. "You want me to leave?" _The nearest stop is in Earth Kingdom control,_ he remembered, his gaze straying to the maps laid out to dry on the floor. The scarred line across his stomach burned, phantom cuffs too tight on his wrists, Jet's knife at his throat.

 _Why'd you suggest it, you idiot, you won't last a **day.**_ _Anyone who looks at you knows exactly what you are_ _—_

"I never said that." Hakoda's calm voice broke through his thoughts. "In all likelihood, your Uncle will catch up to us, and we won't have to worry about it. I'm just suggesting you make a backup plan, in case he's delayed. There are a few little towns within a short sail of the Bay; you could stay in one of those if necessary. The Fire Nation hasn't reached there yet, so it shouldn't be hard to stay undercover."

Zuko swallowed, managing to look away from the maps. 

"Would I be alone?" 

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, his dry throat giving his voice a humiliating crack. The Chief did him a small mercy by pretending to ignore it. 

"No. Someone would be sent to check up on you regularly." 

Zuko tried not to let his relief show. "Okay," he said, nodding. "I'll agree to that arrangement." 

_Not that I have much choice,_ he thought. _If he did leave me all alone I wouldn't have any say in it._

Seemingly finished with the discussion, Chief Hakoda held out his hand. Zuko stared at it for a moment before clasping the Chief's forearm; they shook in agreement, and Hakoda smiled. 

"May I join you for a cup of tea?"

Zuko froze. He looked down at the teapot, then back up at the Chief. 

"I don't think you wanna do that." 

Hakoda laughed good-naturedly. "It can't be worse than Bato's."

 _Wanna bet?_ Zuko thought.

He poured the tea anyway. 

~

Hakoda had a brief moment of regret upon tasting the entirely-too-strong beverage. 

He forced it down anyway. 

He'd helped Katara learn to cook, he could brave a cup of overcooked tea. 

Plus, he didn't want to hear Zuko's inevitable _'I told you so'._


	23. 23; 'nobody is having a good time'

Jet wasn't sure whether to feel offended or touched when Lee unceremoniously shoved a cup of tea into his hand. 

"Here. I made this and thought of you," he said, his tone a weird mishmash of sarcastic and grudgingly sincere. Jet was, again, unsure whether to be offended or not as the strong smell of burnt tea leaves hit him. 

Yeah, good luck getting those nose hairs back. 

"...Thanks," Jet said, grimacing. 

"Don't mention it," Lee said gruffly, sitting down. 

Jet took a tentative sip, nearly gagging, and put the cup down, quickly sliding it as far away as he could reach. Jin's goat-goose untucked her head from under her wing, pecking curiously at the cup. Lee frowned, leaning over and gently pushing her away from the cup. 

"Don't drink that, Yuki. It's not yours." 

"It's fine," Jet said honestly. "I'm not much of a tea drinker anyway." 

"Oh. Alright." Lee's shoulders slumped, and in hindsight, maybe Jet should have been nicer about rejecting his tea. _Guess it wasn't supposed to be an insult after all._

"You like tea a lot?" he asked. Lee scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

"No. My Uncle does. He's always making me drink his dumb calming tea."

_Probably because he thinks you need it,_ Jet thought. _Can't say I disagree._

"I guess I can see why," Lee added. 

"Mm-hm." Jet looked up at the ceiling, sighing. How long had it been since he'd had actual _wood_ over his head? Well, wood that wasn't still growing on a tree. Almost all the tree shelters at home had strong tarps for roofs — they did better at blocking out rain than the old planks they used for the floors. 

He wished the storm would just be _over._ He missed the sky. Even the salty air that was nothing like home had been better than being cooped up inside like this, with the wind raging outside. At least in a tree there was solid ground to retreat to if things got too rough. On a ship your options were limited to drowning inside or drowning outside. 

He thought about voicing that thought aloud, but second-guessed himself; Lee probably wouldn't appreciate hearing it. Hadn't he been fished out after a storm? 

That actually explained a lot about why the guy had been so on edge lately. He wasn't having any more fun in this situation than Jet. 

Jet sighed, stretching, and readjusted the oversized grey shirt he'd dragged out of storage. He would have been fine just wearing his wet clothes, but Jin had bullied him into changing. She'd seemed resigned, like that kind of thing happened often. 

Whatever. The stolen army clothes were gigantic, and clingy on his wet skin, but he guessed they beat wearing nothing. He could alter them later. Thank the spirits he'd learned how to sew. 

~

A bedraggled messenger hawk flew into the Caldera City Royal Message Tower, and Kozue sighed heavily. 

"Hold on," he said, pausing his game of Pai Sho with the new intern to stand up and check the message. 

The hawk looked like she'd flown through a storm. The address on the note she carried was smudged, but Kozue would recognize Captain Zhao's seal anywhere. 

_Lousy suck-up. What's he want this time?_

Per the privacy laws of the Caldera City Royal Mail, Royal Messengers were explicitly prohibited from opening mail. 

Several months ago, Fire Lord Ozai had decided this law needed an update. 

Now, the law stated that they were prohibited from opening most mail — but _required_ to open mail from Zhao. If it was important, they could take the news to the Fire Lord, and if it was unimportant, they could put it in the _special_ filing cabinet _(trash can)_ and send back a pre-written response that fit the situation. 

Kozue broke the seal on the letter, prepared for another boring recount of a _great military feat in the Fire Lord's name,_ _bringing glory upon our country._

Instead he found a hastily written, informal battle report;

_Several Fire Navy soldiers were killed_ _in fight on Water Tribe ship carrying the captured exile Prince Zuko. Our ship was heavily damaged after sabotage from Water Tribe._

_Captain Zhao attempted to rescue the banished Prince from the Water Tribe ship; Zuko refused rescue, instead siding with the enemy and taking out several of our soldiers._

_A fight between Zuko and Captain Zhao ensued; the captain of the enemy boat intervened, and Captain Zhao was left heavily injured and unconscious._

_One survivor of the battle managed to retrieve our Captain from the water. Captain Zhao recounted the story before falling unconscious; he died of his injuries later._

_We respectfully request emergency funds for repairs on ship, and that attention be given to the banished Prince's actions; siding with the enemy in a battle is a clear act of treason._

_\- Lieutenant Nao_

Kozue swallowed, staring at the letter. The overload of information was just too much. The Water Tribe had joined the war? Which one? If the Northern tribe were getting involved, that was _really bad news_ for the Fire Navy.

The Prince turning traitor wasn't a huge surprise — the exact details of his banishment weren't known to many, but everyone know he had committed an act of great disrespect to the Fire Lord, and had been banished for his crime. His Uncle had accompanied him in exile — and everyone had heard of Prince Iroh's cowardice, giving up the Siege of Ba Sing Se after his son's death. With him as the only influence, it wasn't any wonder the Prince had given in to his traitorous impulses. 

Though, the letter said he'd been _captured_ by the Water Tribe — 

Everyone had heard about the waterbenders' prison break, years back — the terrifying stories from the guards of one imprisoned waterbender taking control of their bodies using her bending, their movements not their own as she forced them to release her. 

Kozue shuddered to think how such a power could be used against a prisoner, or anyone who tried to rescue them. 

Captain Zhao's death was probably the most insignificant information in the letter. He'd just be replaced by another officer, hopefully one who was less of a kiss-up. 

"What you got there?" the intern asked curiously; he could hear game pieces clacking as she rearranged the board behind his back.

Kozue sighed heavily, rolling the letter up, and plastered on a smile as he addressed her.

"How would you like to deliver your first letter to the Fire Lord?" 


	24. 24; 'call me when YOUR nephew's teen rebellion ends in a warship being blown up :)'

Iroh had anxiously awaited his nephew's response for a number of weeks. He did not expect an immediate response — letters took long for a bird to deliver, especially when the recipient was on a moving shi.

When the shirshu raven alighted on the rail of the _Wani,_ Iroh nearly dropped his teapot in his haste to find out what it carried. 

(Nearly.)

This letter was far longer than the last. He hoped that was a good sign. The date on it was only six days ago, though he knew that in that time the Water Tribe boat could have pulled far ahead. He informed the crew he would be busy for a while, and retired to his room to read the letter. 

Settling down with a cup of tea, he carefully broke the seal on the thick roll of pages. 

_Uncle Iroh,_

_I can't tell you how happy I was to get your letter. I was worried mine hadn't gotten to you, or you wouldn't want to write back. I'm glad you did._

Iroh immediately felt a pang of sadness that his nephew hadn't thought he would write. 

_I am still on the_ Akhlut. _They're treating me well — I have a share in the chores, and in turn I get to stay with them. I am, thankfully, no longer a captive on the ship, though it can still seem like it sometimes. The crew are ridiculously overprotective (but more on that later). _

_A lot has happened since I first wrote to you._ _My leg is healed (though Kustaa still says to go easy on it), and I've been able to practice my firebending more. I do it at night while everyone's asleep so there's nobody in the way to get hurt. Funnily enough, I'd been practicing heating water for the laundry even before you suggested that._

_My other injuries from that night are healed as well (as I'm sure you expected — it has been several months)._

_There's a lot to unpack about the past few months. I hope you're comfortable, because you're gonna be reading for a while..._

Iroh read on, his heart growing heavy as he learned of his Nephew's seemingly constant misfortune, whether it be an Earth Navy Admiral capturing him, being accosted by a knife-wielding teen in a harbor town, or his father's harsh rejection of the Captain's ransom offer, and even getting sick from the altitude and cold of the Eastern Air Temple. 

(Iroh thought it might have been something more serious than the altitude and cold that made his nephew pass out for days at a time after the discoveries he made). 

Not all Zuko's experiences were bad, however — he had made friends among the crew, and with the young earthbending girl who had stowed away at the first supply stop. Iroh chuckled as Zuko described the group's drunken escapades — heating soup in one's hands was an idea Iroh certainly never would have thought of, and apparently very messy. He was glad that even with all his hardships Zuko found time to act like the teenager he was. 

_By the way, any chance at all you could send my dagger?_ _I'm hoping I can sneak into town at the next stop and buy some swords, and I've still got the knife Kustaa took from the jerk who tried to kill me if I really need it, but you said backup is never a bad investment, right?_

_I think that about covers it. I'll quit bugging you._

_Your Nephew, Zuko._

Iroh nodded to himself, sighing heavily. He loved Zuko, truly, but just reading about all that excitement made Iroh _tired._ He stood, prepared to begin a reply, when one last sheet of paper fell off his lap onto the floor. Puzzled, he picked it up. 

_Uncle,_

_I understand if you're disappointed in me upon reading this. If you no longer wish to write back, or come and retrieve me, I won't blame you._

Alarmed, Iroh read faster. 

_At our last stop, I did succeed in sneaking out to buy a pair of swords. On the way back to the ship, though, Toklo and I had to hide, after discovering that Captain Zhao was visiting the town._

_After rejoining the Chief and his Second, I informed them of the trouble. They requested information from me, to assist in sabotaging Zhao's ship._

Iroh had a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach as he read those words. 

That feeling of dread only grew as he kept reading.

Then dread was replaced with anger. 

Not at his nephew. Though Zuko's actions were rash, Iroh understood why his Nephew aided the Chief in his plan. Zhao had never once shown Zuko a kindness, and Zuko had always seen through the man's hostility masked as hospitality. Their last meeting had led to the _Wani_ being forced to sail weeks out of the way to avoid Fire Nation waters, leading to the already meager rations spreading thin and the moods of the entire crew darkening. The whole ordeal had taken a great toll on Zuko's mental and physical well-being.

It was only natural for the boy to want retribution; and Zuko could hardly be blamed for protecting his friends, either, whatever nation they may be. Furthermore, Zuko had been _right_ to distrust the (former) Captain — Zhao had turned on Zuko the moment things stopped going his way, his lack of control leading to Zuko being burned just when he was starting to get over his fear of fire again. 

So no, Iroh was certainly not angry with _Zuko_ over this, and he felt no shame at all in sharing Zuko's hope that Zhao had died in the waters of the harbor. 

_As I said at the beginning, I understand if you no longer wish to associate with such a traitor as me. My only request is that you do not disclose to anyone what you have read here, and that you burn this letter once you are finished._

_Your Nephew, Zuko._

"Oh, Nephew," Iroh sighed sadly, folding the letter; a flash of flame later it was ash in his hand.

It had only been a request, not an order, but Iroh silently swore not to tell a soul. 


	25. 25; 'nails, laundry and other woes'

They were out of nails. 

This wasn't a problem Hakoda had expected to run into, but it was the one they had. They simply didn't have enough nails to fix the roof at the present time. 

He supposed it was his own fault for not restocking after putting in the aviary. Between Zuko sneaking off and getting hurt, and then the actual process of purchasing the birds, not to mention Jet joining the crew, the need for _nails_ hadn't exactly taken a front seat in his mind. 

The fix for the issue wasn't too hard — they could simply pick up some more nails in the nearest port. Until then the crew could continue sleeping and eating belowdecks, because even if the storm had ended days ago, they'd still had rain showers since then, and it was better to be safe than pay the price by losing good supplies to bad weather. 

Besides, the belowdeck cabins were more spacious. With not just one but _four_ more crewmates than they had originally planned for (not counting Scuttles and Yuki, who usually just crawled in bed with the nearest source of heat. Usually Zuko. Hakoda wasn't bitter about that _at all)_ they needed all the space they could get. At least Akela had brought a hammock. 

Well, there wasn't much he could do. They were close enough to shore that they could pull in the next day. He wouldn't send everyone ashore — one person would be enough to get the nails and other small supplies. Maybe he'd send Aake. He was the best at haggling. 

~

The crew stayed on the ship — they only needed a very small amount of supplies, so Aake was just taking a small boat ashore (it was a well-known fact that Aake was the best haggler out of all of them). 

Unfortunately, this meant nobody else got out of laundry duty for the day. 

Jin collapsed on the nearest bed, her neck aching from sitting hunched over sewing all morning, her fingertips sore from repeatedly being pricked by the needle — Jet had brought a surprising amount of clothing onto the ship with him, and not one garment fit him properly. With his, Jin's and Panuk's combined efforts, he now had two pairs of pants that would stay up and not drag on the ground, a shirt with sleeves that didn't get in the way of his hands anymore, and a tunic that would stay up on his shoulders without constant adjustment. 

At least she hadn't been on wringing duty like Zuko, A job made even harder since he couldn't use his bending in front of Jet. His wrists had to be horribly cramped. He'd been the last to stop working when Toklo suggested they take a break and get some rest. 

_Maybe if I fall asleep here, they'll forget to wake me up after lunch..._

Akela stomped in, flopping into her hammock with her arms hanging over the sides. Her fingers were still shriveled from scrubbing at clothes, and she had streaks of greyish soap smeared in her hair, making her look like the world's most muscular old lady. She heaved a heavy sigh. 

"Why don't we do this weekly?" she half-wheezed. "We'll be working all night at this rate..." 

"There should be a law against laundry," Jin mused, eyes unfocused as imprints of the light glinting off the needle danced in front of her eyes. Across the room in his hammock, Toklo groaned in agreement. 

"That's a dumb law," Zuko chimed in, pulling on the shirt he'd discarded earlier to avoid getting it wet. His face and neck were still patched with a red flush from his efforts wringing the water out of the laundry. "Nobody would pass that." 

"Ugh. I forgot you actually know government crap," Toklo groaned. "Shut up and let us have our fantasy." 

"Plenty of people would pass that law, anyway," Jet interjected. "There are a lot of dumb laws that exist right now, and a lot of dumb people who enforce them."

Zuko made a face like he'd bit into a lemon. "Whatever." 

Jet smirked triumphantly. "I'm gonna head to the kitchen. You guys want anything?" 

"Mm-hm." Panuk got to his feet, wobbling slightly — he'd been in charge of taking the laundry off the line and folding it, a job that required a lot of walking and sitting and walking again. It had made Jin dizzy just seeing it, and thankful she got to just sit down while she sewed. "Might as well get some water." 

"Get plenty for everyone," Akela said, lifting her head tiredly. 

"Got it," her cousin agreed, shepherding Jet towards the kitchen. 

Jin sighed heavily, stretching out. Zuko walked over, throwing himself onto Jet's vacant bunk with a sigh. 

"I think Akela hates me. _She_ never takes wringing..." 

Jin snorted. "I'll trade with you."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I can't sew." 

"You could —"

Jin's words broke off as heavy footsteps crossed the deck over their heads. _Guess Aake's back,_ she thought, recognizing the gait. Muffled voices spoke overhead, and even though Jin couldn't make out whose or what they were saying, they sounded urgent.

Then more footsteps — Hakoda's now — came down the stairs. The door swung open. 

"Zuko," the Chief said, his face grave; a sheet of paper rolled up in one clenched fist. Zuko sat up, every trace of tiredness gone, replaced with a fight-ready tension.

"What is it?" he asked, his hands visibly clutching the side of the bunk. 

"Aake found this in town." Hakoda held out the paper; Zuko's face paled, and he took it, staring at it as he unrolled it, looking just like he had reading his father's letter. Hakoda must have recognized it too. 

"Zuko —"

The paper went up in flames, ashes drifting to the floor. Hakoda started, taking a step backward as Zuko stood, brushing the ash off his hand onto his shirt and briskly walking away — out of the cabin and up the stairs with loud, stomping footsteps. Jin's eyes drifted back to the grey flakes scattered on the light floor. She'd managed to read a single word on it before it had been burned —

_'TRAITOR'._

Underneath had been a sketched portrait, the kind she'd seen on wanted posters before. 

This one was of Zuko. 


	26. 26; 'heart-to-hearts always happen in the most inconvenient places, don't they?'

Zuko knew there were only two possibilities for how this had happened. Either Zhao had lived to make a report, or Uncle had gotten his letter, and _told_ someone. 

He knew which was more likely. Zhao had been out cold when Bato threw him overboard, with multiple injuries. Nobody would have survived that. 

Zuko had been so _stupid_ to think this _wouldn't_ happen. Uncle Iroh was a stupid old man, but he was also a great general, a strategist. And he was _loyal_ to his country.

Zuko had as good as admitted he wasn't part of that country anymore — really hadn't been since he'd been banished. Uncle was doing the Fire Nation a service by exposing a traitor. 

It still hurt. 

~

Hakoda checked the mast first, though he doubted Zuko had the energy to climb it. 

To no real surprise, Zuko wasn't there. 

The other cabins were also unfortunately firebender-free (and if someone had told Hakoda a year ago that he would one day think that sentence, he would have likely decked them). 

He still hadn't checked the hold — really, he hadn't thought of it, since if Zuko had wanted to go there he could have went directly from the cabins belowdeck, but who was to say what Zuko was thinking? Hakoda certainly couldn't. 

While he climbed down the long ladder to the hold, he tried to figure out what he was going to say when he _did_ find Zuko. Sokka and Katara had never been wanted by the Fire Nation (Katara had but that was _different_ and he wasn't going to think about that), and if it were one of _them_ in this situation, wanted for fending off attacking soldiers — 

He hated to think of his kids in danger like that, but if it happened, he would be proud. And he would say it. 

He _was_ proud of Zuko (another sentence he never dreamed of thinking), but he doubted the boy would appreciate hearing that. Not from him anyway. Toklo might be able to get away with saying it. Teenagers, in his experience, did tend to listen at least a little to other teenagers.

Hakoda sighed, stepping off the ladder at the bottom and making his way toward the stacks of crates in the back. 

~

Zuko scowled when he heard someone descending the ladder. What was the point of going somewhere to be _alone_ if people kept following you? 

He pressed his back closer to the crate he was up against, drawing his knees up to his chest. Maybe whoever it was — _Sounds like Chief Hakoda,_ he thought when the footsteps started approaching — was just getting something from the storage, and would leave soon. Surely the universe could give him just _one_ little mercy?

It didn't. 

~

Hakoda didn't have to look for long before spotting a high, braid-adorned ponytail peeking over the top of a crate.

_There he is. Here we go._

He stepped into the small space between crates where Zuko had hidden, managing to fold himself up and sit down. It was a good thing he had practice fitting into the kids' small forts at home. 

Zuko didn't look up from the floor, but visibly tensed. Hakoda sighed, looking over at him. He didn't say anything, waiting for the boy to speak first.

"Mom was a traitor, too," was not what Hakoda expected to hear. Zuko scowled at the floor, his hands curling into fists crossed over his knees. Hakoda didn't know how to respond, so he didn't. 

"I — I think I _knew_ she'd done _something —_ Azula had said stuff about it. I didn't believe it, Azula _lies_."

Hakoda nodded slowly, despite his confusion; the Firelord's own _wife_ committing traitorous acts was a hard thing to imagine. 

Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure he'd even _heard_ of Firelord Ozai having a wife. The Firelord's family life didn't often come up in conversation, even with Zuko. 

"But...I think she was telling the truth," Zuko continued slowly. "My grandfather Azulon died the same night Mom disappeared. The healers had no idea what had happened to him, and nobody would tell me where Mom was — it was connected." 

Hakoda frowned. He remembered hearing the news that there was a new Firelord; at that time the Southern Tribe were just starting correspondence with the Earth Kingdom, the idea of a military alliance a newly proposed idea in light of the ongoing siege at the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, and the imminent threat of more Fire Navy ships moving toward the eastern Earth Kingdom. 

Zuko finally looked up. "Uncle came home a couple weeks after — after Mom left. He stayed with us at the palace. When Fath— When I was banished, he came with me."

Hakoda nodded slightly. Zuko looked away, the corners of his mouth twitching downwards. 

"I guess he finally got tired of dealing with me, though. Wanted to go home, or..." He rubbed his eyes. "Nobody else could have turned me in." 

Hakoda faltered. He had expected Zuko to be upset about the lack of freedom this would entail, or even at the unfairness of being turned in for defending himself, but the boy's fear was of yet another betrayal by his family. 

"Do you think your Uncle would do that?" he asked. He hoped Zuko would say no, reassure _himself,_ because Hakoda had never met General Iroh, and didn't want — well, just _didn't want to_ , but he also didn't want to lie to the kid if Zuko knew better. 

Zuko took a deep breath, looking helpless; an adjective Hakoda wouldn't have ever thought of describing him with. 

"I don't know."

_~_

"Do you think your Uncle would do that?" Chief Hakoda asked, as if Zuko could just _answer_ that. 

How was Zuko supposed to know what Uncle would or wouldn't do? The royal family didn't exactly have a history of being predictable. 

Taking a deep breath, Zuko stared at the crate across from him, refusing to look at the Chief.

"I don't know." 

He could feel Chief Hakoda's eyes on him, waiting, perhaps for a more in-depth explanation or just _more._ What was he supposed to say?

"I didn't _think_ he would, but my family's never been good about doing what I think they're going to." His hand twitched toward his face, but he held it back. "Abandoning a siege for his dead son was one thing. But I doubt Uncle would sympathize with a traitor, just because I'm related to him."

Zuko rubbed a hand over his face, wishing his eyes would stop tearing up and his voice would stop breaking. The Chief shifted beside him. 

"I don't know your uncle, so I don't want to make any assumptions, but from the letter he sent before, he didn't seem like the type who would turn you in. He sounded like he really cared about your safety."

"Then how —?"

"One of Zhao's soldiers could have seen it happen." The Chief sounded so calm and sure it almost made Zuko feel stupid. "There isn't just one explanation, and you can't drive yourself crazy overthinking when you don't have all the facts. We can wait for your uncle to explain."

Zuko swallowed, nodding hesitantly. _Right. Dummy. Should've thought of that._

"But — I'm a criminal, I can't —"

"You're not the only one." Hakoda gave a slight smile. "Nearly the whole crew are wanted after the stunt with Zhao's ship — except Kustaa. Poor guy probably feels left out. It'll be fine; Earth Kingdom citizens won't turn any of us in, and we won't let anyone turn you in." 

Despite still feeling miserable, Zuko managed a small smile. "Really?" he asked quietly. 

"Really." 

~

Hakoda hoped he had done well in consoling Zuko, although the boy did request a few minutes alone. Hakoda agreed, and informed the crew (who had congregated at the entrance to the hold) of said request. They complied, but it didn't stop Toklo and Jin from nearly knocking the boy over with their enthusiastic hugs the moment he returned to the cabin. 

For all his disagreeable grumbling, Zuko didn't quite manage to hide a smile as he returned the hug. 


	27. 27; 'teach your bro how to sew'

Lee looked like he'd been through some shit in the fifteen minutes Panuk and Jet were gone getting food.

He stayed quiet the whole time they ate, red-eyed and sandwiched between Toklo and Jin, who took turns sneakily putting more food on his plate when he wasn't looking. He did, eventually notice, but just scowled at Toklo, snatching the offending piece of seal jerky and growling out a _'thanks'._ Toklo and Jin gave him matching grins, ruffling his hair and nudging his shoulder respectively. 

Watching them interact made Jet miss home, and the kids. He felt a little selfish gratitude when Akela declared the lunch break over and the trio broke up, returning to their various laundry jobs. Jet settled back down in the Sewing Corner, with the too-big pile of too-big clothes that still had to be altered. 

It hadn't been two minutes before Akela walked over, pulling Lee by the collar of his shirt.

"It's time you learned how to sew, kid," she said, ruffling the poor guy's hair with excessive force as he sat down. "Don't hurt yourself." 

Lee scowled at her back as she walked away, muttering some pretty creative curses under his breath. Jet withheld a laugh, picking up a pair of pants with holes worn through the knees. He figured after taking in the sides, there'd be plenty of material left for patches. He picked up the needle and scissors and got to work, tuning out the noise of the rest to the room...

...and tuning back in when he became aware of the inordinate amount of swearing coming from his partner in clothing crimes. 

And the tangled mess in Lee's lap _definitely_ qualified as a crime. 

Summoning all his patience and all the strength it took not to laugh, he put down his tools. 

"Need some help?" 

Lee's face flushed. The glare he directed at Jet could burn a hole through steel. 

"I'm fine," he snapped, pulling at the knotted threads and generally making the problem worse. "I know what I'm doing."

It couldn't be plainer that Lee _did not know_ what he was doing. And it was all too clear that he _did not want_ any help with it. Jet sighed. 

"If you wanna strangle yourself, be my guest," he said, going back to his work and ignoring Lee's muttered obscenities. 

A few minutes later he was pulled out of The Zone again by a tap on his shoulder. 

"I need help," Lee growled (Jet found himself wondering if that was just his natural speaking tone). 

"Alright. Hand over the needle."

Jet managed to pick apart the knot, despite the absolute _mess_ Lee had made, and thankfully most of the thread was still useable. 

"What are you trying to fix?" he asked while he wound the thread back around the spool. Lee held up a shirt with a huge rip down the side. Jet nodded. 

"Okay. First step, turn it inside-out," he said. "You don't want the stitches showing on the outside." 

Lee looked as if someone had just told him the meaning of life and he didn't like it. But he followed the instructions anyways. 

"What now?" 

~

Sewing wasn't so bad once you got the hang of it. 

It took Zuko two and a half hours to get the hang of it — two and a half hours of thinking, _'This looks fine! I'll see what Jet thinks,'_ and two and a half hours of Jet saying _'You're getting better, but remember to keep the stitches smaller than the width of your pinkie nail. You can go back over that part,'_ and then pointing out every length of stitching where Zuko had messed up. 

Zuko had 'messed up' a lot. Keeping stitches at a uniform length was _hard._ He had no idea how the tailors at home managed perfectly sewing yards and yards of robes — not to mention the embroidery. 

_Someone ought to give every tailor in the world a raise,_ he thought as the needle missed the fabric again, jabbing into the tip of his finger again. 

At least he wasn't on wringing duty anymore. That was the _worst._

The good thing was, focusing on his stitch length distracted Zuko from thinking about other things — like the wanted poster, or Uncle, or what was going to happen when Uncle caught up, _if_ Uncle caught up, if he hadn't turned around and gone back home without Zuko —

_Damn_ _it._ Zuko sighed, unthreading the needle and using it to pick out two inches of sloppy, uneven stitches. 

"Something on your mind?" Jet asked. 

"No," Zuko lied, wincing when the needle poked him again. 

Jet raised an eyebrow but said nothing more, picking up the cloth strips he was braiding into a belt. Zuko watched jealously; his braids never turned out that neat and uniform. 

Sighing, he looked down at the garment in his lap. He'd shortened one sleeve already, and used the excess fabric to fill in a torn spot at the hem; the other sleeve was half-finished. 

"You need help again, Lee?" Jet asked.

He ground his teeth. Jet _knew_ his name — _why_ did he keep calling him _'Lee'?_ He had to have heard the other crewmembers talking to him, using his real name. Once in a while Zuko would think, _'hey, maybe he's not so bad,'_ and then Jet would bring up the _stupid fake name_ and it was right back to hating his guts. 

"Would you _stop_ calling me that?" he asked, making his annoyance clear. "Whatever point you're trying to prove, or..."

Jet's brows raised in surprise. "Sorry. I figured I wasn't supposed to know."

"Wha— You've been on this ship for almost two weeks!" Zuko snapped. "You _know_ my name!"

Jet huffed. "Yeah. But you didn't _tell_ me your name. I was using the name you told me. My apologies for trying to be _polite."_

"Well, you don't have to. Just call me Zuko." 

At that moment Akela strolled over, her arms crossed as she looked down at them. "You boys aren't fighting, are you?" 

Zuko bit his lip, glaring at Jet before going back to hemming the sleeve. "No." 

"Good." Zuko ducked away as she reached to mess with his hair. "You two keep behaving, then."

She walked away. Jet looked up from his braiding. 

"I'm sorry. Really didn't know it bothered you that much," he said with a sheepish grimace. "I'll try and remember." 

Zuko nodded slightly. "Alright. Thanks." 

Jet smiled a little. "No problem."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have used this chapter to air out some of my general recurring frustrations about sewing :)


	28. 28; 'a series of happenings that are not so cash money'

Zuko stopped to lean against the rail for the fourth time, his shoulders aching from going through his katas. Overhead, the nearly-full moon shone through the clouds, casting shadows on the deck that Zuko had been on the ship long enough to be familiar with.

The night air was warm, and his bending seemed to be doing better as a result. It was still difficult to produce flames, and his breath control was horrible, but he'd gotten the steps right, and the fire he _could_ summon was hot. So he took advantage of the aloneness, and the good weather, and practiced with both fire and swords until his muscles ached. 

He'd take the aching muscles over the nightmares. 

~

Jet woke up shivering, screams and fire and freezing cold metal walls still fresh in his mind. He laid his hand flat on the wall, feeling the gentle rocking of the ship and reminding himself where he was. 

_So much for a good night's sleep,_ he thought, dragging himself out of bed. He felt his way along the wall to the staircase — after dreams of imprisonment, it might feel nice to see the sky. 

The sound of footsteps across the deck let him know he wasn't alone. He wove through the building supplies strewn on the deck, heading toward the source of the sound, and the bright flashes of light he kept seeing. 

He stopped short at the corner of the cabins — there, on the empty stretch of deck at the back of the ship, Zuko stood with his swords in his hands, poised as if to strike. 

The next moment he had launched into a sequence of moves that looked strangely familiar, the moonlight glinting off his blades. 

It looked pretty cool, Jet had to admit, but there was something about it that had him on edge —

Then Zuko paused, sheathed his blades, and repeated the motions. This time, fire blazed through the air at his fingertips, sparks drifting down to the deck. 

A surge of anger rose up inside Jet. _Firebender._ And here he was, without his swords — but he could always take one of _Zuko's._ Before he could second-guess himself, he charged forward, angling his shoulder to hit the firebender's sternum. 

Zuko hit the deck hard. Unfortunately, he managed to get back up, but Jet was ready, and managed to twist one of his arms until he released the sword in that hand. Zuko stumbled back, wide-eyed, and the moon showed the water in his eyes.

 _As if you have any right,_ Jet thought, _any right at all after what your kind did._ He wanted to say it out loud, but doubted he could summon the words. 

Instead, he raised the sword, charging again. Zuko backed up quickly, leaping atop a stack of crates. Jet followed and, having noticed Zuko favoring his right leg (probably due to an injury), swung at his left. The firebender dodged, but in his reluctance to put weight on his right leg, lost his balance and fell. Jet allowed himself a triumphant smirk before anger took over again. 

_I've been living in close quarters with a **firebender.**_ _I was right to be suspicious — he could have killed us all! Probably biding his time, waiting for everyone to let their guard down..._

He leapt down from the crate, holding his sword to Zuko's throat. "You're a _firebender."_

The accused swallowed, his face even paler than usual, whether from the lighting or shock at being found out, Jet didn't know. 

"You're a firebender, and you've been lying this whole time! I bet you're a spy, huh? Sent by the Fire Nation to sabotage the ship!" 

Zuko shook his head, despite the close proximity of his face to a sharp blade.

"No — I'm not a sp—"

 _"Don't_ _lie to me!"_ Jet roared. "You've been waiting to kill everyone on this ship!" 

"No!" Zuko looked horrorstruck at being found out. "I wouldn't — I'm not even good at firebending!"

"You don't need to be a good one to burn a ship down while everyone's sleeping." Jet glared down at Zuko. "You're not gonna get the chance — I'm stopping you."

Zuko's good eye widened as realization set in. 

Quicker than Jet had anticipated, he shoved the blade away, scrambling to his feet. Within seconds, he had leapt onto the ladder up the mast and started to climb, his remaining sword back in its scabbard. 

Jet scowled, leaping after him.

"You're not getting away, _firebender,"_ he snarled. Zuko spared a panicked look over his shoulder, climbing up faster. Jet cursed the sword in his hand, preventing him from reaching that speed — Zuko was already close to halfway up the thirty-foot mast. But Jet wasn't letting go of his last line of defense in case the firebender got too close. He wished he hadn't left his hook swords in the cabin, but by the time he'd be able to go back and get them, the ship could already be on fire. 

He grit his teeth and painstakingly climbed the ladder with one hand. 

~

Zuko reached the crossbeam of the mast with plenty of time before Jet could catch up — plenty of time to think on what to _do._

 _Can't fight him up here._ He looked down, cringing at the distance between him and the deck. _Can't get down that way._

 _So keep him away from the ladder. Away from me._ He took out his sword and settled down, every second agonizing as Jet came further up the ladder. 

~

Jet climbed up onto the beam, holding the sword in his teeth.The firebender wasn't moving at the moment — maybe he was exhausted. Or waiting for Jet to let his guard down. 

Two could play at that game; Jet moved so the mast was between them, and settled into a position that was comfortable, but would allow him to move if necessary. 

And he waited. 


	29. 29; 'MAST-ers of communication'

Hakoda sighed heavily, peering through the darkness up at the mast. 

"I swear those two lose more braincells every day," Jin muttered grumpily beside him, sounding very like Akela. Hakoda said nothing, but privately agreed with her. 

"Once we get them down, we're tying them up," Toklo said, scowling. "Watch duty was supposed to be easy." 

"I would have thought it would be easy enough even for _you_ ," Ranalok grumbled, cuffing the younger crewmember around the head. "You didn't even notice anything was wrong until they were both headed up the mast." 

"Look, Zuko yells a lot when he's firebending, and he was all the way on the other end of the ship. How was I supposed to tell the difference?"

"Would you stop bickering?" Bato frowned, looking up. "How are we going to get both of them down?"

Akela shrugged. "Beats me. They'll probably come down on their own eventually."

Hakoda frowned. "We're not leaving them up there." 

"Yeah," Toklo agreed. "We're getting them down. So I can kick their asses for worrying me." 

"Suit yourself, I'm going back to bed." 

"Aren't you supposed to be steering?" Hakoda pointed out, knowing damn well she _was_ supposed to be steering, and had just started her shift when Ranalok raised the alarm. She paused, gave a put-upon sigh, and went back to her post. Hakoda looked back up at the two boys on the mast; Ranalok crossed his arms.

"So how _do_ we get them down?" 

~

Jet hadn't moved a muscle since he'd settled onto the beam across from Zuko. He kept his eyes locked on the firebender, even while his muscles continued to ache from climbing the ladder. 

Zuko had nearly fallen asleep, like, three times in the past five-ish minutes. Each time, Jet had been ready to strike, but each time the firebender had snapped awake again, delivering a warning jab toward Jet with his sword. 

Jet was starting to think he'd overestimated his opponent. 

Or maybe Zuko was just a coward, and didn't want to move for fear of falling. Who could say? _Not Jet_. 

Apparently Jet didn't know _anything_ about Zuko. 

Finally, he couldn't take the silence any longer. 

"I can't believe this," he said.

The firebender didn't respond, his mouth closed in a tight line. Jet glared at him. 

"The very first time I saw you, I knew you were dangerous! And you had the _gall_ to stand there and act like I was _wrong!"_ He clenched the fist not holding a sword. "Have you lied to _everyone_ on this ship? Or have they been _helping_ you cover it up?" 

Zuko still remained silent, frustrating Jet to no end. The guy was all shouts and overenthusiastic grumbles, _except_ when Jet actually _wanted_ him to talk!

Jet was about to speak again when the mast shook slightly. That would have been fine, but a gust of wind caught the sails at the same time, and the boat swayed; years of walking on tree branches, often even thinner and more unsteady than the beam, allowed him to steady himself and keep his balance. Zuko, on the other hand, dug his nails into the wood. Despite the situation and his anger, Jet almost managed a laugh at the sight. The firebender looked absolutely terrified — Jet counted that as a win in his books. 

~

Panuk couldn't believe this was his life now; climbing up a mast in the dead of night (he'd been _sleeping,_ for pity's sake!) to prevent two teenagers (read: _overgrown toddlers_ ) from murdering each other over spirits-only-knew-what. 

(Well. He could guess what. It started with 'Zuko' and ended with 'firebending'.) 

He was halfway up the ladder. All he could hear from the top was dead silence — he _really_ hoped it was a good sign and not — 

He wasn't even going to think about it. He could cross that bridge once everyone was back on the deck where they belonged. 

Squinting to see in the dark, he could just make out the two small silhouettes on opposite sides of the crossbeam. Both of them looked to have swords in their hands. _Damn it,_ he thought, _why do all the kids have to be weaponized these days?_

"Zuko!" he called once he was closer to the top. "Jet! You two wanna come down from there?" 

"No!" Jet shouted. "I'm not letting this firebender get away!" 

Panuk sighed heavily. _Great. I was afraid of this._ "Jet, he's a _kid."_

Zuko straightened, and Panuk could easily imagine the look of affront on his face. "I'm —!"

"He's Fire Nation! He was going to burn the ship down!" Panuk could _hear_ the scowl coming through in Jet's voice. "If you know what's good for the crew, you'll let me finish him! Before _he_ can finish what he started!" 

Panuk closed his eyes, leaning his head against the mast and trying to scrounge up every ounce of patience he had left in his sleep-addled brain. _You did this to yourself, Panuk, volunteering in your freaking sleep. Idiot._

"Jet, I don't know how to explain this, so you need to get down and let the Chief tell you," he said slowly. "Zuko's not going to burn down the ship, alright?"

"Now you're saying I'm a liar?" Jet hissed. "You _knew_ he was a firebender, didn't you!" 

"I did," Panuk said, retreating a few rungs, because Jet had a pointy sword and Panuk's knife, while equally pointy, didn't have the same reach. "I also know that he's a kid, just like you and Jin, and he's done nothing to warrant being _killed."_

Zuko made a sound like he wanted to argue (which worried Panuk, because there were several points in his sentence he thought Zuko might disagree with), but Jet's head swung quickly to face him; Panuk could almost make out a glare.

"He's _nothing_ like me," Jet spat. "I can't believe you, Panuk. You and everyone else on this ship are supposed to be fighting _against_ people like him!" 

Panuk gritted his teeth. 

"No," he said. "We're fighting the Fire Nation military. Specifically the Navy, until we're required otherwise." He looked at Zuko, sitting silent in the dark. "He's not in the Navy. Not even old enough to join." He paused for a long moment, considering his next words before saying them. "And exiles can't join anyway." 

Jet scoffed. "Exiles? What are you talking about?" 

"Get down from here and I'll tell you." 

"No. Tell me up here. I'm keeping the firebender where he can't escape." 

Panuk heaved his second put-upon sigh of the night, disappointing himself; he didn't usually do that. Zuko's dramatic inclinations must be rubbing off on him. That elicited another sigh. 

"Fine," he grumbled. "Move over, though, my arms are getting sore hanging off this ladder." 

He heaved himself up onto the beam, getting situated as comfortably as he could; this was gonna be a long story. 

Lucky for his audience, he was an _excellent_ storyteller. 

(Well, according to Amaruq, he was better than Akela at least. She didn't even do _voices!)_


	30. 30; 'would you just stop arguing so Panuk can sleep? please. he's so tired.'

Zuko didn't have to struggle to keep silent while Panuk told Jet his story; the warrior was a good storyteller, and managed to keep Jet's attention without embellishing any of the details. If he reached a point where sensitive information might be revealed in the telling, he would glance at Zuko, who would either nod or shake his head to signal whether he should tell that part or skip over it. The signals were subtle enough that Jet didn't catch on. 

Jet's anger didn't seem to abate as he listened, but at least he _was_ listening, and not glaring _directly_ at Zuko anymore. Every question he asked, Panuk readily answered, and Zuko could tell Jet was slowly growing more trusting towards the warrior. 

One important detail, Panuk left out of his telling: that Zuko was the son of the Firelord, instead mentioning he had family in the government. To explain Zuko's banishment, he said Zuko had spoken out of turn to an important figure, and been banished for his disrespect. Not a lie, just not the whole truth. Jet muttered how it was typical of the Fire Nation to silence even their own citizens — something Zuko was inclined to agree with. 

"How do you know Zuko didn't _lie_ to you about being banished?" Jet asked. "He could be waiting to report back to the Fire Nation." 

"The Chief wrote to his family," Panuk answered. "Some of Zuko's relatives are connected with the prison system, and the prisons where our stolen waterbenders were kept."

Jet nodded slightly, his expression hard to make out because clouds had covered the moon; Panuk continued.

"We hoped to trade Zuko for the benders. The letter his family sent back said it would be a worthless trade, since Zuko was no longer welcome in the Fire Nation." 

Zuko still couldn't see Jet's face, but he could feel him staring. 

"What did he speak out of turn about that got him banished?" he asked. 

Panuk's answer faltered. "I don't know," he said, turning to look at Zuko. "He never told us." 

Jet nodded slowly, still looking at Zuko. "And you trust him?" he asked Panuk.

"I don't have a reason not to. He's a terrible liar."

Jet snorted quietly, amused. "You got that right."

Zuko clenched his fists through the silence that followed, waiting for Jet's verdict. 

"I don't like that he's a firebender," he finally said, "But if you trust him, then I think I can live with him, at least. And if I find out he, or any one of you, is hiding anything else, you can say goodbye to my help."

"Alright," Panuk said. 

"And _you_." Jet was addressing Zuko now. "If you ever try to firebend near me, you can say goodbye to your hands."

Zuko scowled. "I can't just _not_ _firebend_. I have to learn how to control it." 

"Tough." The clouds drifted away from the moon, and Zuko could now see Jet's glare, his eyes focused on Zuko's scar. "Keep it away from me. If that thing on your face is any indication —"

"You think I did this to _myself?"_ Zuko interrupted, anger flaring up. 

"Well, who did, then?" 

"It's none of your business!" 

"Hey!" Panuk put a hand out, looking between them. "Cut it out. Jet, he's not going to hurt you. Zuko, could you keep the firebending to a minimum around Jet?" 

"Oh, like I wasn't before?" 

" _Zuko."_

"Fine." Zuko scowled. " _I'm_ not the one who almost killed someone." 

"What was I supposed to do, _let_ you burn the ship down —"

"Cut it out." Panuk snapped his fingers. "Now, both of you, get down from here and go to bed. It's the middle of the night." 

"Like I can sleep with _that_ maniac —"

"Whatever, _firebender—"_

He snapped his fingers again. " _Bed_. Now." 

"Fine..." 

~

Panuk descended the ladder, exhausted, and tried to block the sound of the _(overgrown toddlers)_ boys arguing once they thought he was out of earshot. He trudged off to the cabin once he'd reached the bottom of the ladder, rolling over in his hammock and going back to sleep. 

~

Hakoda pulled Jet aside to talk the next morning after he was done with breakfast, and Jin and Toklo took it upon themselves to lecture Zuko sternly about his problem-solving skills while the three of them ate. Apparently, climbing the mast and getting himself stuck like a treed cat didn't qualify as a problem solved, and a better solution would have been calling for help. In hindsight, Zuko agreed, but the idea hadn't occurred to him at the time; if it had, he probably would have done it his way anyway to avoid putting them in harm's way during the fight.

They shared an exasperated look when he said that, to his annoyance.

"So," Toklo said, "since you're feeling well enough to be practicing on the deck now, can you start teaching me your sword stuff?" 

"Ooh, can I learn too?" Jin added, looking at Zuko eagerly. 

Zuko sighed. "I guess." 

_"Yes!"_ Jin and Toklo high-fiving, grinning. "I'm gonna kick your ass," Jin added, feigning a punch at Toklo's shoulder. 

Zuko sighed, going back to his breakfast and leaving his friends to their casual threats upon each other's lives. _Weirdos._ Mentally, he began running through Master Piandao's lessons. 

~

Jet went back to the kitchen after his conversation with the Chief, sitting far away from the firebender, and thinking. 

_So he's an exile. So what?_ It didn't change the fact that he'd lied. 

_Well. You did try to kill him when you met him,_ part of him pointed out. 

_And rightly so. He's a firebender. Firebenders have **hurt** you. _

_They've hurt him too._

Jet sighed, laying his head on the table. 

He needed to process all of this — the Chief had _told_ him to think it over, that it was _okay_ to not feel okay about it, that he didn't _have_ to get along with Zuko — but also that Zuko was staying for now, he didn't have anywhere else to go; didn't know his way around the Earth Kingdom, and wouldn't be accepted there — and of course he couldn't go back to the Fire Nation. He was staying until his own ship caught up, and that was that. 

Jet clenched his jaw. Looked over at Zuko, eating his noodles and sea-prunes with a far-off look in his eyes. Across from him at the table, Jin and Toklo were engaged in an arm wrestling contest that Toklo kept winning. They both seemed totally at ease. _How?_ he wanted to ask. _How can you be okay right now?_

Sighing again, he stood up. Maybe going and hanging out with the birds for a while was what he needed to clear his head. There was a lot in there to clear out. Plus, he needed a new wheat straw — he'd ground his teeth so much in his sleep that it completely wrecked the last one. There was clean straw in the supply hold near the aviary, he knew. 

Picking up a piece of seal jerky to snack on, he walked out of the kitchen, hearing Toklo's outraged shouts as Jin finally beat him by using both hands to drag his arm down to the table. 

"You _cheated!"_

"We never set the rules!" 

Jet managed a tiny smile, at the same time feeling a little homesick; Smellerbee always used that same trick. 

_She and Jin would probably get along really well,_ he thought. His spirits fell a little.

_I hope she's alright. Hope all my kids are._

_I hope I can get back to them._


	31. 31; 'is there a point to all this?....sword of.'

Jin had been disappointed they weren't using real swords at first. Zuko got to use real swords, why couldn't she? Or Toklo? They weren't little kids! Both of them were _older_ than Zuko!

Now, after several sparring lessons, she was starting to appreciate it. Toklo liked to fight dirty (or just had really bad aim), meaning his wooden training 'sword' often whacked her in the knuckles, making her drop her own training weapon. If they'd had real blades, she suspected she'd be missing a few digits. 

She sat down against the rail, rubbing her sore hand, while Zuko took a turn against Toklo. He was doing surprisingly well, considering he only came up to chest height on the older boy; he didn't look like he had any trouble covering his blind spot (although Toklo rarely went that way anyway). His movements were a little different than Toklo's, and it took her a moment to realize he was incorporating firebending forms into his footwork. 

_That's new_ , she thought, intrigued — could she do that with earthbending? A lot of forms required keeping a firm stance while still moving around — that would certainly be beneficial. It'd make it harder to get knocked over, at least. 

Toklo had knocked her over, yesterday. She'd fallen over the rail. Something had touched her leg in the water. Jin never wanted to go in the ocean again. 

~

Toklo thought he was getting pretty good at the whole sword thing — he'd even managed to knock Jin overboard (albeit by accident). 

(Chief Hakoda had promptly banned them from sparring near the edge.)

Unfortunately, Zuko was still a lot better — and _vicious,_ unafraid to kick Toklo in the back of the knee to get him down. 

(The Chief had _also_ banned Zuko from wearing boots while sparring, after he'd left a few bruises.)

Not all the lessons involved sparring — Zuko had them sit down and practice signing their names because, quote, "you need to be individual on a battlefield, because...swordfighting, the way you use a sword is like writing your name," unquote. 

He also had them sit down and paint pictures of different areas on the ship, with only a few seconds of reference, so they could learn to memorize terrain quickly. That seemed a little more useful than calligraphy, not to mention more fun. 

For a while, at least, until in retaliation for knocking her overboard, Jin had attempted a sneak attack with a paintbrush.

Really, it was only a matter of time before the Chief banned them from swordfighting lessons altogether.

As it was, Zuko said they'd just stick to the fighting forms; the other stuff wasn't that important anyway.

~

Zuko sighed heavily. It seemed he was doing that an awful lot lately. He thought it was well-deserved, given the circumstances. 

"What are you doing, Jin?" he asked, stepping over a pile of rocks in his way. The contents of the Rock Bag were scattered over the deck, and Jin weaved between them, barefoot, while swinging her training swords (which were really just pieces of a broken barrel whittled into a vaguely swordlike shape). 

"Practicing," she said, moving into an odd stance and bringing her foot down hard; a rock flew up, grazing Zuko's shoulder when he didn't get out of the way in time. 

"Practicing _what?"_

"That thing you did," she said, swinging the swords above her head. "With your bending moves." 

Zuko blinked. She'd been paying attention to that? "Oh. Why do you have the rocks, though?"

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, kicking a large stone; for anyone other than an earthbender it would have resulted in a broken toe or two, but the stone slid easily across the deck at her will. "If I've got earth on hand in a fight, I'll have an advantage if I can use my bending too." 

She had a point. Three, if you counted the swords. 

"Alright, then." He shrugged. "Just make sure you practice the regular forms too."

"Got it. I'll balance it." Jin paused to stretch, and nearly fell over sideways over sideways. Righting herself, she smiled sheepishly. "Starting now." 

Zuko scowled, not because the joke wasn't funny, but because he was a little mad he hadn't thought of it. "Go back to practicing," he grumbled, turning around and heading back inside. 

~

On the third day of their swordsmanship training, when the afternoon sun was high and hot, and Zuko had stretched out on the newly-finished roof to bask in its light, Jet sauntered over to where Toklo and Jin were practicing some new moves. 

"Looks like you two are getting pretty good," he remarked. 

Jin grinned — or maybe it was a grimace — and pulled back, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Eh. Sword of." 

Toklo ground his teeth. She had already made that joke _seventeen times_ in the past hour alone! He knew exactly where she'd picked it up, too. 

In some sick twist of fate, Jet shared her awful sense of humor, and chuckled heartily, leaning his back against the mast. "I'd say you improved _sig-knife-icantly."_

_Oh, come on._ "These are swords. Not knives," Toklo said, trying to curb any further bad jokes. 

" _Sharp_ observation skills," Jin cracked. 

"Yeah, thanks for _pointing_ that out. Wouldn't wanna _cut_ any corners in my jokes, right?"

Toklo scowled. _Damn._ "You're both banned from being around Chief Hakoda." 

"Why? We've already learned so much from him." Jin's smirk widened. "It'd be _pointless."_

"Hey, could you guys cut that out?" Zuko groaned from atop the roof. "You're giving me a headache..." 

They all fell silent for one _blessed_ moment. 

Then Jet had to open his damn mouth again. 

"Alright. We'll _cut_ it out." 

Toklo buried his face in his hands. 

~

Jet sat on the deck, watching while Jin and Toklo sparred. The moves were different from how he used his hook swords — less grabbing and pulling and backhand stabs, and more slashing and thrusting. Zuko stood on the sidelines, calling advice to the pair and dodging errant sword swings. 

"Jin, you have to use _both_ swords, that's the point!" he called, climbing up on a crate for an overhead view. "And Toklo, if she forgets again, use that advantage and trap her right sword with yours." 

Toklo nodded, nod breaking his concentration as he ducked under Jin's wooden blade; it caught on the short ponytail at the back of his head. 

"Aw, really?" he groaned, disentangling the dark strands from the cracks in the wood they had become ensnared by. "See, this is why I wanted to use real swords."

"Why, so you'd end up with a permanent bad haircut?" Jin propped her hand on her hip, raising an eyebrow. "Let's be honest, you'd be dead if these were real metal."

"You both would," Zuko said bluntly. "But you're getting better." 

The two students practically glowed at the praise, Jin grinning widely despite the split lip she sported from face-planting on the rail earlier. A hint of a smile showed on Zuko's face, though if Jet didn't know better he might say it looked sad. 

_Yeah, right. Probably because he hoped they'd impale each other,_ he thought, but there wasn't much heart behind it; he didn't know about the other crewmembers, but it seemed the firebender had a fondness for those two. He must, to be training them in the same weapons he used. 

_Or maybe he just feels secure knowing neither of them can firebend, so he'll always have an advantage,_ he thought. You could remove an earthbender from their element, or take weapons away from a warrior. Firebenders had no such restrictions. 

_Because the worst people get all the luck,_ he thought, scowling. He stood, no longer wanting to watch, and went inside. 

~

Hakoda was pleasantly surprised that Zuko really knew how to use the swords he'd purchased; he'd been under the impression firebenders didn't study other martial arts, but Zuko was a natural, and it was clear he was comfortable with the weapons. Perhaps more comfortable than without; normally, he favored his right leg slightly, even though it was fully healed, but that hesitation all but disappeared when he sparred with Toklo or Jin (and even Panuk on one occasion, armed with his machete against Zuko's dual swords). 

Hopefully the ship's youngest warrior would learn the new skill and put it to good use. Toklo's enthusiasm was evident, and he was picking up the moves with more ease than Hakoda expected. Jin, too, was learning quickly — and incorporating her knowledge of earthbending into the art, which Hakoda wasn't sure he would have even thought of. 

_It would be even better if they'd stop nearly killing each other_ , he thought, as Jin barged past him, dragging a bloody-nosed Zuko behind her by the wrist. 

"I told you, I'm fine!" Zuko protested stubbornly, dragging his feet and trying to pry her hand off. 

"You're _crazy,_ is what you are," Jin replied, shoving open the door to the infirmary. "Kustaa! We need assistance, _again."_

Hakoda sighed heavily. _What am I gonna have to ban this time?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I shoved in as many sword puns as I could. You're welcome :)


	32. 32; 'those pesky consciences and empathy, huh?'

It seemed Jet was losing sleep every night for one reason or another. 

More often than not, that reason had everything to do with the firebender — and whatever had made _him_ awaken with a choked gasp, which gave way to sobs, muffled behind his hand. Sobs that made Jet's stomach turn, because it sounded just like a hurt little _kid,_ and Jet didn't want to think about a _firebender_ that way — and really, he had no right to be _hurt_ when his kind had done so much hurting; and then there was Hakoda's lecture in his head, along with the _unhelpful_ conscience he _didn't want to hear from right now, go away please, now is not the time just let me sleep._

Almost always, the sobs died down to silence, and Jet was finally able to drift off. Once, Jin climbed down from her bunk, pulling Zuko to his feet and taking him to the kitchen. The light in there was still on when Jet finally got to sleep an hour later. 

Tonight, Zuko had yet to make even a sound, but Jet still hadn't managed a wink of sleep. Akela was awake as well — she had a lantern tied to a beam above her head, a scroll rolled out on her lap while she rocked in her hammock, one foot down on the floor to keep the movement steady. 

"What're you reading?" he asked, craning his neck to see the scroll; it was too far away to read the writing on it, but there was a fairly graphic illustration of an open wound. He grimaced.

"One of Kustaa's medical scrolls. He picked this one up at the same port where we found you." Akela leaned over to show him the scroll. "This one's on infections—"

She broke off, turning her head toward the source of the small groan that had interrupted her. Jet followed her gaze to the bunk nearer the back of the room, where Zuko was curled up, his arm over his face; he was muttering quietly, which Jet knew by now was a telltale sign he was close to waking up. 

Jet ground his teeth, already prepared to get up and leave or shove his head under a pillow to block out the sound. 

Akela, on the other hand, put down her scroll, climbing out of the hammock and striding silently over to Zuko's bedside. Then, to Jet's utter surprise, she lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, gently moving Zuko's arm away from his face and tucking it back under the covers. His muttering became a little louder — frantic, stuttered repetitions of _I'm sorry, I meant no disrespect, I'm sorry,_ that brought a sad look to Akela's face. Jet could only guess at what might be capable of upsetting the firebender this way; he got the feeling Akela might _know_. 

She sighed, tugging the blankets up to cover Zuko's shoulders, and gently brushed back the stray hairs laying over his face. She was humming quietly; Jet didn't recognize the song, but it sounded a little like the songs Mom used to sing to him when he was little. _Before_. 

The firebender's pained expression smoothed out, though the furrow between his eyebrows (or rather, between his eyebrow and where his eyebrow _should_ be) remained. He rolled onto his side, his forehead pressed to the side of Akela's leg. She kept humming, smoothing down his hair, which he'd let out of its stupid ponytail for the night (probably because the knowledge of its stupidity made it hard to sleep). 

Jet looked away, laying back down. Zuko wasn't sleeptalking anymore — maybe he could get to sleep. 

His dreams were troubled, but that was nothing new. 

He managed to sleep through to morning, at least. 

~

Akela stood, Zuko having calmed down and now sleeping soundly, _under_ the covers — it was chilly down here even for her, and she was used to the cold. The four months getting acquainted had made her pretty okay with the kid, but that didn't mean she wanted to spend a night cuddled up to all those pointy knees and elbows because he got hypothermia again. 

She went back to her hammock, rolling up her discarded scroll after marking her place with a clip on the edge of the parchment, and took down the lantern over her hammock. 

Before she put out the flame, though, she glanced up; Jet was curled up, asleep. His face looked so much more relaxed than when he was awake; even those sharp-angled eyebrows looked smoother than usual. He looked young, like the kid he was — because no _way_ was he _actually_ sixteen, how had he managed to fool Chief Hakoda on that? Maybe the Chief was just humoring the kid — and almost peaceful, though his hands were curled into fists close to his chest. 

_Poor kid._ She sighed. _Maybe we'll end this war and he can have some real peace. Him and everyone else._

She sighed and snuffed out the flame, and let her wishful thinking carry her off to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long gap between chapters! This one was a little bit of a pain, I'm not great at writing emotional stuff and that's pretty much all this is. Hope it's okay for being so short!


	33. 33; 'for the record, Zuko was totally brooding, if he says otherwise he's lying'

Zuko stood by the railing, scowling at the shore. Not because he was displeased with the scenery — in fact, the view was the last thing on his mind, though if he had paid attention he might have noticed how striking the sunlight was on the high tide, or how the bright lilies growing at the beachside were just this side of too pink for Fire Lilies, but just as pretty and bloomed so much earlier in the year. 

Alas, he had other things to worry about. 

Like how he had little to no chance this time of going ashore. The Chief hadn't _said_ anything about it, but Zuko wasn't dumb enough to think it'd be allowed.

Jin walked over, sighing heavily and leaning over the rail. 

"No chance of sneaking off this time, huh?" she asked, nudging him with her elbow. Zuko nudged back, shaking his head. 

"No," he replied, sending what he hoped was a _withering_ scowl toward the shoreline again. 

"That's too bad." She headbutted his shoulder affectionately(?). "Wanna play Pai Sho?"

"No." 

"Swords?"

He cringed. "No. You whacked me in the elbow last time." 

"I won't do it again." 

" _No."_ He sighed. "I just don't want to, okay?" 

She nodded, turning around to lean backward on the rail. "So what _are_ you gonna do? Sit here and brood?"

Zuko scowled. "I'm not _brooding."_

"You've been glaring at that poor, innocent sand for an hour." Toklo came up on his other side, using Zuko's shoulder as an armrest. _Jerk._ "I'd say that counts as brooding." 

"Nobody asked you." Zuko huffed. "I don't _brood."_

"Ah. I see." Toklo nodded sagely. "Sulking, then." 

"I don't _sulk,_ either!" He scowled. "Unless you've got a boat stuffed in that big head of yours, could you leave me alone?" 

"Dude, I'm sure if you asked the Chief would let you —"

"No." He cut off the older teen's sentence, smacking his hand down on the rail. "I'll just end up in more trouble." 

"We'll go with you, then, and keep you _out_ of trouble." 

"Keep him out of trouble where?" 

Zuko turned around quickly, startled. "Chief Hakoda! Sir, we weren't —"

"Zuko's brooding 'cause he can't go ashore," Jin rudely interrupted, speaking without a single pause. "We were wondering if you could let him? Just for a little while." 

The Chief frowned, clearly about to say no, for which Zuko didn't blame him. Toklo stepped in hastily. 

"We'd stay with him the whole time, Chief!" he assured. "He'll be fine, we won't let him out of our sight for a moment!" 

Chief Hakoda was silent, a pondering look on his face as he considered the proposal for a long moment. 

He'd just opened his mouth to answer when, lo and behold, Grass Boy himself strolled over, a fresh piece of straw in his mouth. It was one of those stupid caterpillar-looking grass heads, and Zuko vaguely wondered where he'd gotten it. 

"Panuk said to tell you they're ready to leave," he said, leaning against a crate with a forced nonchalance that didn't reach his face as he narrowed his eyes at Zuko. 

Two could play at that game. Zuko narrowed his eyes right back. Well, the one that wasn't permanently, uncomfortably narrowed. 

The result was a staring contest that probably went on _way_ too long, until Zuko's eyes started to water. He blinked, and Jet got the most obnoxious, _smug —_

"Zuko, are you listening?" 

He looked up. Chief Hakoda was looking at him strangely. 

"Sir?" he said awkwardly, because he had, in fact, not been listening. From the looks Toklo and Jin were giving him, they'd had a whole conversation without him. 

"You can go ashore for a little while, but stick together and stay in sight of the ship. Some of the crew will be on guard in case anything happens. Understand?" 

Zuko nodded his head.

"Stay out of trouble, got it? That goes for all of you," the Chief added, looking at Toklo and Jin. 

"Yes, sir." 

"Don't worry about a thing," Jin affirmed. "We've got it all under control." 

~

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked wearily. He'd turned his back for _maybe_ three minutes, because Yuki had been trying to eat sand; when he turned back around, Toklo was buried up to his neck, his eyes closed like he was taking a nap.

"Chillin'," Toklo replied, not opening his eyes. Jin was nearby, focused hard on a pile of sand at her feet. 

"Bending," she said, making a shoving motion with her hands; the sand pile fell over. Judging by her put-out expression, that wasn't the intended outcome. "Could you help me make a sand castle?"

Zuko grimaced. He'd heard that question enough from Azula to know it was safer to just decline. 

"No." He sat down, ignoring the sand no doubt working its way into his clothes. Jin shrugged, and went back to pushing the sand around using her bending. Zuko braced his hands on the sand and leaned back, watching Toklo struggle to free himself from his sandy prison. 

"Little help?" the warrior asked with a pleading expression. 

Zuko eyed him, frowning. "Can't you do it yourself?" 

"No."

"Then I guess you'll just have to stay here forever." Zuko shrugged. "Don't know what to tell ya." 

Toklo narrowed his eyes. "You're a cruel man, little brother." 

"So I've been told." Zuko sighed, looking around. Nearly the whole crew were still gathered on the beach, conversing, playing with cards or the dog, and (in Kustaa's case) examining the plants. 

"Why's everyone just standing around?" he wondered aloud. "Aren't there supplies to get?" 

"Not enough to require the whole crew's help," Toklo said, struggling one arm out of the sand. "We're here a couple days anyway, so there's plenty of time — Chief figured we all could use a rest, and he could speak with some high-ups in the Earth Kingdom military who're passing through tomorrow. We're off the hook for a while."

Zuko tensed at the mention of the Earth Kingdom military; he hadn't forgotten his encounter and brief imprisonment by Admiral Jie. Toklo seemed to notice, because he (with some difficulty) patted Zuko's arm. It wasn't as reassuring as he intended. 

"Don't worry, Zuko. They're meeting in town — they won't even be near the boat. You're safe." 

Zuko scowled. "I wasn't _worried,"_ he lied, looking away. 

"If you say so." 

A silence stretched between them, until Jin cleared her throat. 

"Zuko? You sure you don't wanna build a sand castle?" 

Zuko looked at her — she had a bucket in one hand, fashioned out of a rock, and a makeshift shovel made from a seashell and a stick, tied together with one of her hair ribbons. The braid it belonged to was half-unraveled. She smiled, offering him the shovel. 

Sighing, he took it. "Fine." 

~

Hakoda walked back to the ship, carrying the spoils of the most recent shopping trip, which included utensils (which always seemed to go missing), sharpening stones (for the crew's many weapons) and bandages. One could never have enough of those, it seemed. 

He also had a couple of new maps, because there had been a sale. And a chest, because Jet needed to put all those clothes _somewhere._

Okay, and a teapot. Kustaa kept brewing gross, medicinal teas in the good one and he wasn't putting up with it any longer, so this would be his gift to the healer. Was it petty? Maybe a little. 

Up ahead of him Akela and Panuk each had a bale of straw, and were racing to see who could reach the ship first. Panuk was doing his best to trip his cousin up, Akela had shoved Panuk off the path twice, and not for the first time Hakoda was a little glad his kids were too young to be friends with these two; the injuries would be unmanageable. 

The ship came into view, and with it the members of the crew who had stayed behind.

Kustaa sat on a rock, an array of leaves and flowers laid out around him, reading aloud from his field guide to Yuki; the goose-goat perched by his side, chewing majestically on a lily.

Scuttles ran around, chasing after the volegulls on the beach; Tuluk stood nearby, calling encouragement to the dog, and occasionally throwing sticks for him to chase. Ranalok and Aake had started a game of cards nearby, and kept looking up in annoyance whenever the pup ran too close and threw sand on them. Jet was also playing their game — and winning, if the pile of coins in front of him was any indication. He looked smug as always, but in a way that indicated he didn't expect to do so well. 

He looked so much like a kid — he _was_ a kid, Hakoda wasn't stupid enough to fall for the 'I'm-actually-a-short-sixteen-year-old' ploy. He'd used it himself enough (when he was much younger) to recognize it. 

Jet insisted he _needed_ to join — he _needed_ to fight the Fire Nation. His family were gone, and his home, so he had nothing left to lose. 

It was heartbreaking to hear a child talk that way.

Maybe it had been a bad idea, taking him on while Zuko was still with them. But maybe it would work out — the boys weren't at each other's throats anymore. 

And Jet had something to live for, at least.

Hakoda looked to the other side of the path. Zuko was helping Jin decorate a sand castle with shells and rocks. Toklo sat nearby, shaking sand out of his tunic. Bato was holding a mouse-snake, and was eyeing Tuluk with a thoughtful look. Hakoda caught his eye and shook his head. Bato pouted, but put the animal down, letting it scurry away into the bushes. 

Hakoda sighed, stopping at the bottom of the gangplank and waiting for Akela and Panuk to finish hauling their straw onto the ship. 

"Want any help?" he asked. 

"No thanks, Chief!" 

"Yeah, we've got it!" Akela grinned, hefting the bale up so it was balanced on her head, supported by her hands. She then nearly tipped over, dropping the straw back to the deck. 

Hakoda sighed. _Ikiaq deserves some kind of reward for getting that girl past infancy._

He stepped around the two teens, dropping off the wares in the cabin, and went back down to the beach. It was a nice day, and damned if he wasn't going to enjoy it. 


	34. 34; 'and this is why you SHOULD give your kids swords.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance ✌

_"Dad's going to kill you!"_

"Zuko."

_"You're lying! Dad would never do that to me!"_

"Zuko, you need to wake up." 

_"You will learn respect..."_

"Zuko, wake up!" 

Zuko jolted awake, blinking away the image of his father's hand, gloved in fire, and focused instead on Panuk's hand, holding a lantern inches away. The flame flickered with Zuko's breath. Panuk's face was grave, and the shadows made it even more so. 

"What is it?" Zuko asked, sitting up; Panuk wouldn't have woken him if it wasn't urgent. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness — Panuk's lantern only illuminated a small part of the room — he could see the rest of the crew moving around the cabin, dressing...and putting on fur-trimmed armor, helmets fashioned in the shape of wolf heads, sharpening weapons. The whole room had a rushed, agitated energy.

Either everyone was gearing up for an impromptu late-night sparring session, or the _Akhlut_ was under attack. 

Zuko wasn't dumb enough to think it was the former. 

He got out of bed, grabbing his swords from their place above the bed. He threw on a shirt and tied his hair back while he hurried over to Jin, who was standing by the stairs looking anxious. 

"There's two Fire Nation ships out there," she said, clenching fists encased in stone gloves. Looking down, Zuko could see her feet were similarly attired. He felt a little underdressed for the occasion, with only his swords for protection. Even Jet had a couple pieces of armor among his regular clothes. 

Oh well. Swords would have to be enough. 

~

Jet had been on watch duty, helping steer the boat, when Akela pointed out the lights near the horizon; lights to the south of them, where there was no land to speak of. Lights that could only be lanterns on a ship. The smell of burning coal confirmed it. 

"Fire Nation," Akela whispered, her grip tightening on the tiller. "Go wake the Chief." 

Now, he did his best not to flip out as he pulled on the little armor he'd managed to pick up — nothing that fit well, or matched, but he hoped it would do its job anyway. Across the room, the firebender was sharpening his swords, glancing nervously at the door every few seconds. Jet scowled, looking away, and focused on lacing up his shoulder plates.

~

Someone from the nearest ship had spotted them. They weren't going to be able to do this stealthily; the ship was approaching fast, and there wouldn't be time to take the boats over. They were going to have to fight on the _Akhlut._

Hakoda sent the youngest of the crew belowdeck, as well as Kustaa, with Akela and Bato guarding the stairs; the kids had all their weapons, in case a Fire Nation soldier managed to get past.

He hoped it wouldn't come to that. 

~

Jet crouched on the floor in the cargo hold, warily watching the door. Sounds of the fight made their way downward from the deck, but so far no Fire Nation soldiers had made it down there. 

Every sound was another tensed muscle, his hand finding his swords for comfort. The others were silent — probably listening, like him, to discern just what was going on. 

It stung that he wasn't up there, fighting with the rest. He was part of their crew, wasn't he? He could fight! He wasn't a _child._ The Fire Nation had made sure whatever childhood he had ended a long time ago — and now he wasn't even allowed to _fight_ them. 

Heavy footsteps passed directly overhead, followed by a lighter pattern. Aake and... _that other one must be a soldier._ Dust fell down from the ceiling, and Jet scowled, rubbing his irritated eyes. 

_This sucks._

_~_

The crew — the warriors — were doing their best to keep the firebenders back, but there were just so many of them; in the raids at home it had been easier, the cold had made firebending just a little harder, and given the tribesmen just the slightest advantage. Here, the higher temperatures allowed for better bending, and the wooden structure of the ship made the risk of fire all the more dangerous. 

~

The firebenders knew exactly what ship this was — it wasn't printed on the hull like Earth Kingdom ships, but they, like all the Fire Navy crews, had received messages describing the ship that held the traitor Prince, and the crew of rebels that sailed it. _'The only Water Tribe ship with a woman onboard'_ narrowed it down quite nicely. 

The Prince himself was nowhere to be seen, but the woman and the ridiculously tall sailor were guarding that door like their lives depended on it — it wasn't hard to guess where they were keeping him. 

Two non-bending guards wouldn't be a problem. 

~

The footsteps were staying on the deck. 

If they did come belowdeck, the door to the cargo hold was locked, and there was a ladder behind them to escape with if the lock failed. _Which it wouldn't,_ Zuko kept reminding himself. It would be fine. The crew would fight off the soldiers, and everything would be alright. 

So why did he feel so panicked, hearing the sounds of fighting up above? 

_Because the Fire Nation has benders and the Water Tribe doesn't. Because there are two **huge** ships out there, full of soldiers. Because we're on a wooden ship, and if it catches fire we're all doomed. _

He forced the thoughts out of his head, focusing on the footsteps thundering on the deck, trying to tell apart the sounds. 

_Aake. Chief Hakoda. Ranalok or Tuluk (or both). Panuk._ Akela and Bato were nowhere to be heard, staying in place as guards at the top of the stairs. Kustaa was right here with them; so was Jin, leaning against a crate. Toklo was listening by the door, spear at the ready. Jet was crouched a few feet away, staring at the door. His swords were in his lap. 

Everyone was alright, right? No reason to worry. Just keep listening. 

There was a horrible sound like splintering wood, and door slamming open.

Jin shared the same horrorstruck look Zuko was sure he had. Toklo's expression went even grimmer, his feet shifting into a fighting stance. Jet sprang to his feet, swords in hand. Zuko slid his own swords out of their sheath, standing. Jin straightened, wiggling her fingers in their rock gloves. Even Kustaa drew out Heng's knife (which Zuko had given back to him once he'd gotten his swords). All of them faced the door as loud, armor-clad footsteps approached. 

The lock held as the soldier pushed and pulled on the door. 

It held and held, until it glowed red with heat, and then it didn't hold. The door swung inward, and four firebenders charged in. 

~

Toklo and Jet attacked the nearest firebender at the same time; Jet managed to land a hard blow and knocked his helmet off, and Toklo grazed his face with the tip of his spear. It wasn't enough; the firebender simply shoved them aside, joining his comrade and —

_Oh no._

Two of the soldiers were heading right for Zuko — and Zuko, the _idiot he was,_ was just standing there, swords raised in that stupid _'come and get me'_ stance. Toklo charged the soldiers from behind, hoping to catch them off guard, but a sharp backward kick from one sent a plume of fire up towards him. Toklo backed off, fingertips stinging, swearing under his breath. He gripped his spear tighter. 

~

Jin gritted her teeth. She wasn't letting these losers take her friend away. She climbed up on a crate, getting her biggest rock out of her bag. Loser One was now missing his helmet, courtesy of Jet, so if she could throw it hard enough —

It wouldn't be pretty, but she didn't have a better plan. She raised it up in one hand, punching forward hard with the other. The rock sailed straight. 

Loser Two, unfortunately, caught the movement; they raised their hand, the hard steel armor deflecting the stone, and sent a blast of fire towards her. She had no choice but to dive out of the way; on the landing, her ankle twisted, sending a burst of pain up her leg. She bit her tongue, smothering a cry. 

_Come on. Get up. You can do this._

She grabbed a handful of rocks that had fallen out of her bag. 

~

Jet wasn't giving up. He was outnumbered, and a non-bender, but he wasn't going down without taking a couple firebenders with him. Even the healer was doing his part, after all, and he only had a _knife._ Jin was curled on the floor, her ankle a nasty shade of purple, but she still managed to score a few hits with her rocks. 

Running forward, Jet leapt onto a crate, and managed to catch one of his hooks in the faceplate of the remaining helmet. From the cry of pain, it also caught the firebender's face. Grinning in triumph, he jerked the hook back. The helmet came off.

The firebender snarled at him, punching fire; he ducked to avoid it, and swiped at the soldier's face. The hook caught in her hair instead, but the result was evidently no less painful to her. Her partner scowled, and a second later a strong hand was wrapped around the sword, tugging it out of Jet's grasp. Jet held on as long as he could, his hand aching and stinging — but eventually, the sword slipped from his grip. He held onto the other one tighter as he planned his next move. 

The female soldier had gone back to her main target — which, apparently, was Zuko. Zuko was glaring at her, defiant, his twin swords raised — but his eyes showed panic when she summoned fire in her palm. 

The male soldier was now engaged in a fight with Toklo — firebending versus spear. The warrior's face shone with sweat, his hair clinging to his face (and singed on one side where the fire had gotten too close), but he wasn't giving up. The firebender had received several deep cuts on his face for his efforts. Two other firebenders stood by, daggers of fire ready in their hands.

Jet jumped off the crate to join the action.

~

Zuko swallowed hard, his mouth dry. The soldier was advancing, her hand cloaked in flames. Another tall, menacing figure with a hand full of fire flashed in his mind — his grip on the swords tightened. _No. She isn't him. I can fight her._

By — what could he do? She was wearing too much armor — her face was vulnerable, but could he get that close without — she'd _burn_ him if he got that close. 

Another step closer. She held out the hand that wasn't on fire. 

"You're coming with me, _Prince_ Zuko." 

"No I'm not," he snapped, raising his blades. "You're not taking me anywhere." 

She scowled at him. "You don't have to make this difficult, you little brat."

"I'm not leaving!" He glared at her. "Do I look stupid to you? I'm not going to go with you _willingly_ just so I can be kil— _HEY!"_

She'd darted in, grabbing both his forearms and pinning them hard against his back. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't hold onto his swords anymore. 

"You are coming with me," she repeated, shaking him. "You're gonna go back to the Caldera, and get a little slap on the wrist for your crimes. Maybe the Fire Lord will teach you some lessons about _respect."_

Zuko flinched. "He already tried," he retorted, struggling against her hold; he heard the clinking of chains, then felt cold metal on his wrists as she fitted the cuffs on. 

"Maybe he'll try harder next time," she snarled in his ear. Grabbing the chain between his hands, she dragged him backwards towards the door. 

~

Toklo was locked in combat with the male firebender, Jet fighting another by his side, when he saw the other soldier dragging Zuko out by the cuffs around his wrists. 

He saw red. Yelling with rage, he plunged his spear toward the chest of the firebender he was fighting.

The tip didn't make a dent in the armor. The soldier grabbed onto the spear, yanking it sharply from Toklo's hands and snapping it. One of the still-helmeted firebenders grabbed Toklo's arms from behind, holding him still. The other came up on Jet, grabbing his wrists in a crushing grip. Jet yelled and struggled, but the soldier managed to get a pair of cuffs around his wrists. 

"What should we do with this one?" the firebender holding Toklo asked, shouting over the noise. 

"Cuff him and take him in. We may as well take this one in too." The helmetless soldier gestured at Jet. "There's a reward on their heads, and they're too small to cause much trouble."

The soldier with Jet nodded, turning and dragging him out. Toklo winced as thick cuffs were fastened around his wrists. 

_Stay calm. You'll be fine. The others will be fine,_ he told himself — it didn't stop his heart from pounding like a foxrabbit's paws. Didn't stop the sinking feeling in his stomach as he was pulled up the stairs. 

Didn't stop him from fighting and shouting for help all the way to the cell they threw him in. 

~

They pulled Zuko across the deck toward the other ship. It seemed to take hours to get there; and all around them, the fighting didn't stop. Fire and weapons were everywhere, black and red armor and white and blue armor meeting in combat like Zuko had never seen. He was relieved to see that the Water Tribe sailors were holding their own against the firebenders; not to mention there weren't as _many_ firebenders as he'd feared. The ship they were dragging him towards looked beaten up, so maybe they'd just been in battle, and lost a few men. 

_Good,_ he thought. _We've got a chance._

_~_

The Fire Navy ships had, in fact, been in battle recently against several Earth Navy ships. The Earth Navy was small, but they had a lot of power; with teams of earthbenders manning the catapults, their projectiles had a deadly accuracy that Fire Nation technology had yet to replicate. They'd suffered many losses, and now had far fewer soldiers than they'd started out with. They badly needed to resupply, and make repairs on the ship. 

Admiral Chan had been in his office, very pointedly _not_ sulking in defeat, when the alarm had been raised; there was a Water Tribe boat nearby, most likely the one carrying the Prince. 

Taking down the whole ship was out of the question — the Earth Navy had managed to take out all their trebuchets, so there was no way of launching a fireball into the boat. 

Pity. A fireball would be so convenient. 

No, they'd just take the Prince. After all, how hard could it be for trained firebenders to take down a few non-benders and capture a thirteen-year-old? 

~

"Admiral Chan!"

Officer Ayako barged into the Admiral's office, her face livid. In one hand she held a chain, going to the cuffs around the wrists of a teenager with an unfortunate haircut and a more unfortunate scar. Her helmet was missing, and she had a deep gash on her right cheek. She held her other hand up, blood dripping from her palm.

"Your _prisoner_ bit me." She glowered at Chan, pushing the teenager forward. The boy had a slightly proud look, and indeed, a little blood on his lips. Still, his eyes gave away his fear. _Good —_ he should be afraid.

"So," Chan said, leaning forward. "You're the traitor...Prince Zuko."

The boy met his eyes, swallowing nervously. 

"Yes," he said in a smoke-damaged rasp. "I am." 


	35. 35; 'PRISON! and other fun activities to do with friends'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? In _my_ fanfiction? It's more likely than you think.

Zuko had never been in the brig on the _Wani._ Really, he hadn't explored much of the ship at all — he just avoided the boiler room and the brig and Uncle's quarters, because Uncle _snored_ and Zuko, as Toklo would say, didn't need that kind of negativity in his life. 

The prison area on this ship was the most depressing place Zuko had ever seen. Even being nearly empty, it managed to reek of misery. 

The soldier whose hand he'd bitten was glaring daggers at the back of his head, and he decided he'd _prefer_ Uncle's snoring. She shoved him through the rather damp corridor, steering him towards the single occupied cell. He frowned — wouldn't it be better to put him in the cell alone? 

He changed his mind immediately, stopping short upon seeing the occupants of the cell. 

"Wha — Toklo? _Jet?_ What are you —?"

"Zuko!" Toklo jumped to his feet, leaning against the bars. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, but what a—"

"Get a move on, I don't have all night," the soldier grumbled. She'd been in a sour mood since he'd bit her hand. She'd brought it on herself, covering his mouth to make him stop yelling. She shoved him again, right between the shoulder blades, and opened the cell door. 

"Go on. Get in," she snapped. Zuko glared at her, making no move to follow her order; fed up, she grabbed his shoulder and pushed him into the cell. With his hands still cuffed behind his back, he wasn't able to catch himself. Toklo caught him instead. 

"Thanks," he muttered, glaring over his shoulder. The soldier looked smug as she walked into the cell, unlocking the cuffs. Then she sauntered back out, jerking the door shut behind her and locking it with an echoing metallic _click!_

Toklo sat back down, still squeezing Zuko in a hug. If looks could kill, that woman would have fallen down dead. Instead, she kept walking, and the door to the brig slammed shut. Zuko managed to wiggle out of Toklo's death grip, and looked at the other two. 

"What are you two _doing_ here?" he was finally able to ask without interruption. 

"What's it look like?" Toklo replied, huffing. "We got caught." 

"Yeah, but — why?" 

"Why don't you tell us, _Prince_ Zuko." 

Jet looked up, and Zuko almost recoiled from his glare. 

"That's who you are, isn't it? You're not just Fire Nation. You're their _Prince."_

"Yeah, a Prince who just got arrested for treason, Jet," Toklo retorted. 

"Oh, big deal." Jet still held his murderous glare at Zuko; there was a cut on his forehead, Zuko noticed, and a bruise forming at the corner of his swollen lip. "He'll just get a slap on the wrist. He's _royalty."_

Something snapped inside Zuko. He rushed forward, ignoring Toklo shouting at him to stop, grabbing Jet by the front of his shirt. All the tiredness and agitation and _rage_ that had built up in his chest since he had that spirits-damned dream, all came to the surface at hearing that _damned_ phrase for the second time that night.

"Does this _look_ like a _slap on the wrist?"_ he snarled, pointing at his left eye. "Does this look like a light punishment? Does it look like the Fire Lord gives a _damn_ about me being _royal?_ About me being his _son?"_

He paused, taking a deep breath and blinking away the tears that were blurring his vision. "I got _this_ for talking out of turn in a meeting. For not fighting back when my own _father_ challenged me to a duel! So yes, it _is_ a big deal, because the very second I get to the Fire Nation — the moment I am in his presence, he's going to finish what he started, and kill me." 

His voice had dropped to a hush on the last sentence, the previous shouts still echoing off the ship's metal walls. Toklo and Jet both stared at him, horror and disgust written clearly on both their features. 

"Zuko," Toklo said, his voice choked. "Is — _that's_ why he —?" 

Zuko scoffed, impatient. "Yes, it is, Toklo. And I don't want your damn _pity."_ He let go of Jet, pushing past him to get to the thin mattress in the corner. "I'm going to bed." 

"No you're not," Jet snapped. "I've been up all night on watch!"

"Well, maybe you should have done a better job," Zuko retaliated, laying down. "Maybe then we wouldn't be in this cell!" 

Jet lunged forward, but Toklo stopped him. "Don't. Just drop it," he said. "We can't keep fighting. Just get some sleep and in the morning we can start...figuring out how to get out of here." 

"What's the point?" Zuko scowled. "The _Akhlut_ will be long gone by morning, and we'll be on our way to the Fire Nation. We don't have anywhere to go." 

"Don't say that," Toklo snapped. "Don't you even start. They're not gonna keep sailing without us. You know that, Zuko." 

Zuko looked up, and was startled to see tears in the older boy's eyes. Toklo clenched his fists and took a deep breath, looking away. 

"They'll come back for us, alright? But until then, we can't just sit around and wait. We have to try and get ourselves out." 

Zuko opened his mouth to retort...and closed it again. Toklo was right. 

"Now...can we just get some _rest?"_ he finished, in a broken whisper tapering off into a sigh. Zuko felt guilty for having started a fight in the first place — "And don't even...don't even think about apologizing, Zuko." Toklo held up a hand. "This is _not_ your fault. It's none of our faults," he added, looking at Jet. "It's not our faults, and it's not the crew's fault, and it's not Chief Hakoda's fault. Understand?"

Slowly, Zuko nodded. "I understand." He sat up, moving off the mattress. "You two can go to sleep first. I'll keep watch." 

"You don't need to," Toklo said. "This place is so echoey, we'll be awake already if anyone comes down here. You need rest too." 

Zuko hesitated, before remembering how he'd always been awoken in the middle of the night on the _Wani_ whenever the guards changed shifts. Their footsteps had been loud even on carpeted floors; down here there was nothing to muffle the footfalls. Toklo was, again, correct. 

"Alright," he conceded. "Jet, you can have the —"

"We're sharing the mattress," Toklo cut him off. "It's only fair. There's plenty of room for all of us." 

Jet huffed, but nodded, glaring at Zuko. Zuko, too tired to care, nodded as well.

There were no blankets, and the brig was freezing, and no matter what position Zuko took to get comfortable, there was always an elbow or a knee poking him somewhere. Somehow, he still managed to get to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I take 'there was only one bed' and mutilate it beyond recognition to make it as petty as I can? *Phineas voice* Yes. Yes I did. 
> 
> ALSO! it has come to my attention that we're only five chapters away from 40, and that *still* might not be enough time to finish this up, so I am _considering_ making a part III once we hit 40-ish. I'd really appreciate some lyrical suggestions for a title (preferably something musical theatre-ish to fit with the theme of the last two?)
> 
> Thank you, that is all!


	36. 36; 'wishful thinking only goes so far'

Bato's arm was badly burned. Akela needed stitches from shoulder to elbow. Jin's ankle had been badly sprained, and Panuk had been knocked overboard and nearly drowned.

Toklo, Zuko and Jet were gone, and though he wouldn't show it, Hakoda was barely holding it together. 

The crew spent the following morning cleaning up the mess from the fight, and turning the ship around to follow the warships. Hakoda had sent a letter ahead to the other ships in the fleet, informing them of the delay. 

He wished he knew that it was just a delay. That the problem was an easy fix. That they'd catch up to the warship, and get the kids back. 

He'd started to write a letter to Zuko's uncle, but hadn't finished or sent it. In a best case scenario, General Iroh would understand; maybe help them, even, and with his influence maybe the kids had a chance of being released.

In a worst case scenario... Hakoda wouldn't be able to help from the bottom of the ocean. 

~

When Jet woke up, he didn't open his eyes right away; maybe it had all just been a horrible dream, and he'd wake up on the _Akhlut_ in his bunk. Maybe the last _month_ had been a dream, and he was in his tent. Maybe, in some bizarre turn of events, he'd dreamed up the last year, and he'd wake up in the fort, at _home._ If he didn't open his eyes, he wouldn't know, so for all he knew the arms wrapped around him might be Smellerbee's, or the smell of singed hair might be Sneers's attempt at cooking. The warmth at his back could be from the sun shining through the branches, and not the _firebender_ he was sharing a bed with. 

Jet sighed. Wishful thinking could only go so far, and it wouldn't do anything to get them out of this place. 

He wriggled out of Toklo's hold, standing. Zuko rolled into the space he'd got up from, his unscarred right side visible now he was lying on his left. 

Jet ground his teeth, looking away. He didn't know how to feel about the firebender...the Fire _Prince,_ anymore. The Firelord's _son,_ but the Firelord had burned him, would _kill him..._

Jet had been so angry, finding out yet another thing they'd kept from him. But he knew he'd pushed too far last night. He'd _seen_ that scar, been told it was a punishment. Been told Zuko's family didn't care, didn't want him back even though he'd been captured by the enemy. He'd made his own conclusions. 

Knowing the whole story, and those conclusions being _right,_ was so much worse than he thought. 

~

It was a couple hours after dawn when Zuko awoke. It was a testament to how much his life _sucked_ right now, how much he didn't want to get out of bed. He was supposed to be a _morning person,_ for Agni's sake. 

Unfortunately he wasn't able to lie in; the clanging of heavy boots on steel stairs made such a _noise_ he was instantly, begrudgingly awake, and on guard; he'd dropped his swords back on the _Akhlut,_ but he still reached for the empty scabbard out of habit. 

The guard stomped into the hall — thankfully, it wasn't the same soldier from last night. He shoved a tray through the slot under the door and left without a word. Jet, already out of bed and leaning against the wall, glared at the guard until he was out of sight before picking up the tray. 

"There's not a lot here," he said, setting it down near the bed. 

"I'm not that hungry anyway," Zuko muttered. He looked at Toklo, who was miraculously still asleep. "You should leave some for him, though." 

"Alright. I'll do that." Jet tossed himself onto the ground by the front of the cell with a _clunk_. "I'm not hungry either..." 

Zuko nodded, looking up at the ceiling. His neck hurt from sleeping on the unfamiliar mattress, and this position didn't help. The ceiling showed a dim reflection of the cell from above in the torchlight. 

"Hey, any chance you can melt through these bars?" 

Zuko looked over; each of the bars at the cell's front were an inch thick, and solid steel. It would take a trained firebender hours to make a hole big enough to escape through. 

"No," he muttered bitterly. "They're too — it'd take forever. Someone would notice, they'd just move us to another cell." 

Jet scoffed. "Figures..." 

"What figures?" 

Zuko turned his head; Toklo sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking around. Half his hair was a tangled, singed mess, and Zuko wasn't certain the dark circles under his eyes weren't just bruises. 

"Fireboy here can't melt us out of here," Jet said, with a glance toward Zuko that might have been a glare. 

"No, he can't," Toklo said patiently, breaking off into a yawn. "We'll figure out a different way." 

Zuko sighed and passed him the food tray. "This is yours." 

"You already done?" 

"Not hungry." 

Toklo frowned, picking up one of the small bowls of shrimptopus stew and shoving it into Zuko's hand. "Eat the soup, dumbass." 

Zuko sighed heavily. "Fine."

"You too, Jet," Toklo added. Jet rolled his eyes but took the bowl without complaint. 

"If we get anything a little...drier, next time, maybe we should save it. In case we can get ahold of a boat," he said, taking a bite of the stew. "It's a long way from here to shore."

Zuko was a little peeved to find he agreed with Jet; they would need to store some supplies. Only one problem... "We don't have anywhere to hide that stuff," he pointed out. "They're gonna notice."

"We've got a mattress, don't we?" Jet countered. "Shouldn't be too hard to hide something in it." 

Zuko huffed. "Alright. But how do you plan to _get_ a boat? There's still a few soldiers on this ship, plus the helmsmen and engineers, there's probably a couple cooks for a ship this size —"

"Soldiers who are tired out from two battles in a row, engineers and helmsmen who are too busy keeping this beat-up hunk of metal afloat to bother with us, and cooks who we'll only have to deal with if we go to the galley, which we won't _have_ to if we store enough food." Jet raised his eyebrows in a _'prove me wrong'_ gesture. Zuko couldn't prove him wrong. Not yet, at least. 

Really, he _hoped_ Jet was right. 

~

Iroh was headed to the deck, when Crewman Teruko approached, carrying a message scroll. 

"Genji said to give this to you," she said, presenting him the scroll without ceremony.

"Thank you, Teruko," he said, taking it without ceremony. She bowed and went back to the deck. He took the letter back to his quarters, sitting down to open it.

Iroh recognized Admiral Chan's insignia on the parchment, and wondered briefly what military news might require Iroh's attention; long gone were the days when anyone would ask him for _advice,_ and he no longer held a military position...so what could the Fire Navy Admiral have to say to him? 


	37. 37; 'boots: horrible weapons, excellent escape tools'

On the second day of their imprisonment, the guard came back about an hour after breakfast, accompanied by another soldier; his armor was fancier than those who'd captured them, and Toklo got the impression he was somebody important (and, therefore, horrible). From the way Zuko was glaring, he might have guessed that they'd met before — but then again, Zuko glared at everyone. 

The soldier — no, he had to be some kind of Captain, Toklo figured, since his uniform looked similar to Zhao's. The Captain(?) frowned as he turned the key, stepping into the cell. 

"You." He snapped his fingers, pointing at Zuko. "Get over here."

Zuko's glare had turned to a look of thinly masked terror the second the door had opened, and he made no move to get up. The Captain sighed in a falsely tired manner. 

"Officer Takashi," he said, turning to the guard. "Would you bring him to me?" 

The guard walked over, reaching for Zuko's arm; Zuko jerked away, scrambling backward. Toklo stepped between him and the soldier. 

"Leave him alone," he snapped, glaring at the guard. Some part of his brain was telling him it was stupid to do this, but he ignored it. "What do you want him for?"

"That's none of _your_ concern," the guard spat. "Get out of the way." 

"Not until you — _ugh!"_ The guard shoved him aside, grabbing Zuko by the arm and pulling him over to the Captain, who took Zuko's arm and drew out a long knife. Toklo gasped and ran forward — out of the corner of his eye he saw Jet do the same — but the guard kicked a high ring of flames toward them with a vicious snarl. 

"Stay back," he growled, with a warning glare. He pinned Zuko's arms behind his back with one hand, holding his head down with the other so Zuko was facing the floor. Zuko looked terrified, shutting his eyes tightly; Toklo wanted badly to look away, but couldn't. The Captain nodded approvingly at the guard, raising the knife.

And, taking hold of Zuko's ponytail, sliced through it, severing it close to his head. Zuko let out a choked noise between a sob and a gasp, his head snapping up to look at the Captain. His eyes seemed to fix on the severed hair in the man's hand. 

"You didn't expect us to let you keep it, did you?" the Captain asked coldly. "A royal traitor is still a traitor. If anything, worse. The Firelord requested you not be given any special treatment. Takashi —" he nodded to the guard. "Let him go now." Turning quickly, he walked out. The guard let go of Zuko, following the Captain out of the cell and leaving the brig with loud, clunking footsteps. 

Zuko dropped to his knees, his hands frantically feeling his head. Toklo wrung his hands, unsure what to do — or even what had just _happened,_ what was all that about, he'd thought they were going to _kill_ Zuko, but no, they just...cut his hair? 

The way they went about it made it seem like it was a big deal. Jet looked just as bewildered as Toklo felt, but his concern was visible too. 

"Zuko?" Toklo said tentatively. "You alright?"

"I...I think so," Zuko answered, lowering his hands to the floor. "I'm fine."

He didn't _look_ fine. Toklo went over and sat down next to him on the floor. 

"What was that about?" he asked gently, before Jet could ask the same thing not-so-gently. 

"Hair is a symbol of honor in the Fire Nation," Zuko said quietly. "As a traitor, I...don't have that." 

"Oh." Toklo bit his lip. "You gonna be okay?" 

"I'm _fine,"_ Zuko repeated. "It's not like I _expected_ any special treatment. It's practically the law."

Toklo hesitantly patted him on the back, trying to be comforting. Zuko scowled, pushing his hand away and standing. 

"I said I'm fine! Instead of wasting time, we should be finding a way out of here!" 

_Of course._ Toklo pushed aside his slightly hurt feelings. _Personal space. Got it._ "Right," he said quietly. "Okay." 

~

"Zuko's right," Jet said, sitting down against the wall. "The longer we stay in here the closer we get to the Fire Nation. And the further from Hakoda's ship." 

Zuko looked annoyed at Jet for agreeing with him, but nodded. "Is there something in here we can use to knock out the guard?" 

"Nothing, unless you're good at throwing boots through the bars hard enough to cause any real damage." Jet gestured to his own boot to emphasize the point. 

_Spirits, this would make a horrible weapon,_ he thought, picking at a buckle that was just hanging loose on its strap. That would definitely get in the way, and tangle around a bar or something if he tried to throw the boot. 

Toklo and Zuko kept talking, and Jet went into his thoughts, still absentmindedly fiddling with the buckle. 

_How are we going to get ou—_

The buckle came off in his hand. He looked at it, and something in his mind clicked into place. 

"Hey, guys?" 

They looked at him. He held up the small piece of metal, grinning. 

"Either of you know how to pick locks?"

~

Iroh was mad. 

No, mad didn't cover it. He was **_furious._**

Not only had Admiral Chan taken _Iroh's nephew_ prisoner, foolishly gone out of his way to attack the Water Tribe ship after taking devastating losses in battle, and wasted the lives of even more soldiers in the process — 

He had the _gall,_ the _audacity,_ to write to Iroh about it, and admonish _Iroh_ for Zuko's actions. To _boast_ about the imprisonment of his nephew and the friends who had defended them. 

The crew had rushed to follow his order immediately when he demanded they follow the route of Chan's ship until they found it. It was out of the way — those larger ships sailed further from shore — but the Dragon of the West's fury was infamous. It was a rare occasion when Iroh was glad for his fearsome reputation. 

He hoped Zuko was alright. Admiral Chan's reputation was not that of a cruel tyrant like Zhao, but he was known for following orders to the letter. If he had taken those orders directly from Ozai, Iroh believed he had every reason to fear for Zuko's wellbeing. 

He would not fall into despair again, though. He _would_ get Zuko back, and if he had to storm the ship and take him by force, then so be it. He would not let his last family down. 

~

Admiral Chan sat at his desk, writing out a letter to the Fire Lord. He wasn't foolish enough to think the ship would make it all the way to the home islands within anything less than a month, so sending a letter now might seem a little presumptuous — _'anything can happen,'_ and all that; but Fire Lord Ozai _had_ to be anxious for news of his son, so Chan was doing him a favor. One father to another. He knew if _his_ son were wanted for treasonous acts, he would be heartbroken; it must be a thousand times harder being the one in charge of doling out the punishment for it. 

He sighed, finishing off the letter with his signature and laying it aside to dry. 

_I can't imagine what it must feel like, knowing he'll have to execute his own son before long._ He shook his head sadly. _But I'm sure he'll take the duty solemnly and with strength, as a ruler ought to._

~

Fire Lord Ozai sat at the table after a long day overseeing war meetings and organizations for the summer festivals. The servants milled about, serving dinner, taking away empty dishes, and other such duties. On his right-hand side sat Azula, primly picking at her roast duck. 

"How were your firebending lessons today, Azula?" he asked conversationally. "I saw you practicing the advanced katas in the courtyard."

"Master Katsu believes I'll be ready to learn lightning soon, Father," she said; her tone was cool, but her eyes showed a spark of pride. "And he says my fire burns brighter and hotter than any other he has seen."

"Excellent, my daughter." Ozai smiled with pride at his daughter's accomplishment. "You're progressing admirably in your training for your age." 

She smiled. "Thank you, Father." 

They finished dinner in peaceful silence. Azula went to the courtyard — Ozai was sure he'd heard one of her two companions out there. Ozai retired to his chambers, settling down to read a boring report on the state of farms in the colonies. Maybe it would bore him to sleep, he thought with a chuckle. (Bizarrely, the servant who had brought him the scrolls scurried away very quickly at that.)

~

Suffice it to say, Fire Lord Ozai did not lend much thought to his son's situation. 


	38. 38; 'Admiral Chan has a blast'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to: the author bullshits on boat terms for part of a chapter because OneLook couldn't give a definition for 'place where lifeboats are kept on a ship'. I don't know if there even is a term for that.

Zuko huffed in annoyance, twisting his arm again to reach the keyhole. There wasn't one on the inside of the door for obvious reasons, and it made trying to pick the lock a pain in the ass. 

"So," Jet said, leaning against the wall, close to the door. "How's the Prince of the Fire Nation know how to pick locks?" 

Zuko winced as he missed the keyhole again, scraping his hand on the sharp edge of the plate. "My cousin taught me," he answered, withdrawing his hand to examine the cut. _Eh. No big deal._ He reached back out again. 

"You have a cousin?" 

" _Had."_ Zuko finally managed to get the pick into the keyhole. "It's none of your business," he added. 

"Alright. Just curious." 

Jet's last sentence came out in a mumble. This was because he was chewing his fingernails, _again,_ which he had been doing a lot lately. Presumably because he didn't have his wheat to chew on. Zuko tried to just ignore it. 

"Well, where'd you learn swordfighting?" he countered, reaching his other arm out to use the other part of the lockpick. His face was a little squished against the bars, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He was the only one who knew how to pick locks, which was a shame because he also had the shortest arms. 

"Taught myself," Jet smugged (and there was Zuko, using smug as a verb again. He really needed to get out of here). 

"Good for you." He huffed, lifting up on the pick; there was a sharp _click,_ and he froze before quickly stepping back. 

"What is it?" Jet asked, looking worriedly between Zuko and the door. 

"We're out." Zuko chuckled. "It's unlocked. Toklo, we're out!" 

Toklo looked up from the spider-ant he'd been watching chase after a goosefly in its web, and stood up. "We're out?" 

"Uh-huh." Zuko put away the picks, giving the door a push. It slowly swung open, the well-oiled hinges barely making a sound. "Come on. We have to get to a boat before someone comes down here." 

Toklo nodded, lifting the mattress and getting the tied-up shirt with the small amount of food they'd managed to collect. They'd waited two days to properly start their breakout, to make sure they had at least some provisions to take with them. (Jet was, annoyingly, the one who had suggested they wait.)

"Let's go." Toklo walked out first, head turning slightly from side to side as he scanned the corridor ahead of them, though Zuko thought it was unnecessary; any approach would make so much noise they'd have time to prepare. That actually might cause a problem — a guard might hear them before they saw them. Zuko had enough experience being stealthy on one of these ships — he'd gotten past Uncle the night he fell overboard, hadn't he? — but he wasn't sure about the other two. 

Thankfully, his companions understood the necessity of silence. They tiptoed past every guard, hiding in the numerous shadows cast by the torches in the halls. Zuko called on what little firebending he could do to try and make the flames less bright. It might have worked, or it might have just been a coincidence that they dimmed at the same moment he started concentrating. 

They made it to an upper deck, where Zuko figured lifeboats would be kept. A larger skiff would be faster, but it'd draw a lot more attention, and he wasn't sure his mediocre firebending could keep even a smaller coal engine going. 

Finally he found a few small boats that would fit the three of them, plus their supplies. 

"This'll have to be good enough," he said, dragging the boat out of the huge supply closet he'd found it in. "We should probably wait until it's dark. They'll have a harder time spotting us. Until then we need to find somewhere to hide." 

"Wait." Jet held up a finger. "We've still got hours until nightfall, and you just want to _hide?"_

Zuko stared at him. Was there some _other_ option? "What else are we supposed to do?" 

"I say we give them a nice little farewell present." Jet smirked. "Do you think they have any blasting jelly onboard?" 

Toklo's eyes widened, and not in a good way. Not in a _'why-would-you-suggest-that, do-you-want-us-to-die'_ kind of way. No, this was his _'that's-the-best-idea-since-seal-jerky'_ look. Zuko gaped at him. 

"Are you guys crazy? We're not blowing the ship up!" 

"That's practically a yes," Jet said through a grin, though he quickly turned serious. "Come on, Zuko. Give one good reason why we shouldn't." 

"Do you _want_ to be killed by flying shrapnel?"

"Oh, come on, it's not like we're gonna blow up the _whole_ ship," Toklo argued. "That'd be dumb." 

"Yeah. We'll just blow enough of it to slow them down a little," Jet said, smirking. Toklo high-fived him. 

Zuko couldn't believe this. "Since when are you two friends?" he grumbled. He was not _jealous_ of Jet. He just wished Toklo had better taste. 

"We're not," Toklo answered easily, clapping his hands together loudly. "Now come on. If you're that worried, we'll just blow up the engine room. It won't put us in danger, but they won't be able to follow us! Same thing we did on Zhao's ship." 

Jet's eyes widened, his eyebrows almost totally arched. "Hold on, hold on, _time. Out."_ He stepped closer to Toklo. "Did you say _Zhao?_ As in, Fire Navy Captain, big ugly sideburns, bad temper?" 

_You're one to talk about temper,_ Zuko thought, but he didn't disagree with Jet. "Why? Do you know him?" 

"We've met," Jet said darkly. "But _you guys_ are the ones who blew up his ship?" 

"Well, not really _us,_ it was the older warriors," Toklo explained. "I was on babysitting duty." He just smiled when Zuko glared at him. _Jerk._

"Wow." Jet grinned. "I knew I joined the right crew." 

_Yeah, right._ Zuko rolled his eyes. "Can we just get moving? If we're gonna be blowing things up we'd better go and get ready now." 

_"Yes!"_ The other two high-fived again. Zuko sighed heavily. 

_When did I become the mature one?_

_~_

It didn't take _too_ long to find the clearly labeled barrels of blasting jelly in the weapons hold. There weren't many, but it was certainly enough to do some significant damage. 

Zuko led them through the corridors with less ease than Jet expected — hadn't he ever been on one of these before? 

_Then again,_ he thought, _that burn would prevent anyone from moving around much._ _The smoke inhalation alone..._

With that nausea-inducing thought in mind, Jet helped drag several explosive barrels to the engine room. Jet took the job of rigging the barrels, trailing an oil-soaked rope out from the engine room as they went back upward. Jet thought someone might have spotted them at one point, but they didn't give any acknowledgement, just turning around like they'd forgotten something and heading back down the stairs. 

They got back to their boat, and Zuko announced it was still an hour until sunset. Jet had no idea how he knew that, but he took his word for it. 

"We've got some time before we have to —" the firebender broke off at the sound of voices and footsteps in the corridor. He looked over his shoulder, wide-eyed. 

_"...what's that rope doing out here?"_

_"Hell if I know, I've got better things to worry over. The prisoners got out."_

_"Got out?"_

_"We're searching the ship."_

Zuko cursed under his breath. "Change of plans. We gotta go _now."_

"Way ahead of you." Toklo was already pushing the boat toward the hatch leading to the outside of the ship, and shoving the hatch open. "Once I've got this hooked up, you light the fuse. Then get in the boat." 

"Yeah, hurry up with that, would you?" The footsteps outside were getting closer, and Zuko's voice was tight and nervous. Jet went over to help Toklo, wanting to be well out of the way when the fire started. 

He hadn't moved a moment too soon; the door was flung open, and a guard stomped in. Jet swore, out loud, and hooked the boat up quicker. "Zuko, come on!" 

From the corner of his eye he saw a bright orange flash, and the guard running forward; Jet didn't waste a moment climbing into the boat. Zuko nearly knocked him over in his own haste to get in. Toklo pushed the boat off the edge of the platform and jumped in, frantically letting out the ropes holding the boat up. The guard was getting closer, and the ropes were jammed. Cursing again, Zuko leaned around Toklo and grabbed the rope, burning through it while shooting a blast of fire at the rope two inches from Jet's head. 

The boat dropped with stomach-lurching quickness, and Jet held in what would have been a very manly scream as they plummeted toward the water. He also held on _very_ tightly to the side of the boat. 

They rocked intensely as they hit the water. The guard shouted over their shoulder, and Toklo shoved an oar into Jet's arms, shouting at him to _"ROW!"_

So he started rowing, still dumbstruck they had _actually_ pulled that off. 

Then there was an enormous _BOOM!,_ and the massive ship rocked behind them, sending out a shockwave through the water that propelled them forward _very_ fast. Jet clutched the oar, white-knuckled. 

They finally slowed as the waves dissipated, and Jet glanced over his shoulder at the ship, which was slowly starting to sink. He could see the tiny shapes of sailors running up on the deck. He smirked. 

"Looks like we did our job." 

"Now we just have to row to shore," Zuko sighed. "Unless Chief Hakoda can catch up with us _really fast..."_

"Hey, anything could happen," Toklo said optimistically. "We'll just have to wait and see." 

Jet thought they were gonna be doing a lot more waiting than seeing, but kept his mouth shut and rowed. 

"Hey, are we going the right way?" Zuko spoke up after a while. "The sun went down over there, so we should be going that way." He pointed in a vaguely northerly direction.

_Shit._

Jet still kept his mouth shut and rowed the other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you should know I've been wanting to use the 'has a blast' joke in a title since good ol' Zhao.


	39. 39; 'Zuko, a sleep-deprived moron: huh, wonder whose piece of junk ship that is. looks just like mine.'

Zuko sat at one end of the boat, keeping his eyes on the ocean out ahead. Behind him, Toklo was supposed to be rowing, but had fallen asleep some time ago. Jet, too, was out, so Zuko had picked up the oars and did his best to row on his own, has keeping them on their course. 

It had rained yesterday, and Zuko's clothes were still damp. Jet was coming down with a spirits-damned _cold,_ of all things, though he kept insisting he was fine. 

Zuko sighed, peering out into the dark. He had yet to see any land, but they couldn't be that far off, right?

Unless they'd drifted off course again...

He forced back a yawn, rubbing his eye. He wasn't _tired,_ but his head was starting to hurt from trying to see in the dark. Maybe he should wake Toklo back up...

_No. I should just let him_ _sleep._ He gritted his teeth and held onto the oars, rowing in the direction he was sure the land was...

~

Iroh stood out on the deck, looking out over the ocean. He didn't expect to be caught up with Chan's ship yet, but a few more minutes of searching couldn't hurt. Much as he would have liked to go to sleep, he would hate to miss spotting the ship. 

Though, on second thought, a crewmember could wake him if the ship was spotted. And after all, how was he to keep his patience while negotiating with the Admiral if he didn't get at least a little sleep?

He turned to head inside, but not before he caught a split-second glimpse of a small, dark shape out in the water. He frowned, pausing, and turned around. 

The small, dark shape appeared to be a boat. Iroh leaned out to get a better look as it drifted closer. In the pale light from the moon he could see two small passengers — maybe three — sitting or laying in the boat. The oars hung at the sides of the boat, doing no work to steer or propel the boat. The current had done that on its own, it seemed. 

"General," Jee said, breaking the silence after a minute. Iroh had almost forgotten the Lieutenant was there. "Should we pull them up? They'll just keep drifting otherwise." 

Iroh sighed. "That may be a wise choice," he acknowledged, looking down at the small boat; now that it was closer, he could see red detailing on the front. "It looks like a Fire Navy lifeboat." 

"Wasn't Admiral Chan's ship nearby?" 

Iroh froze. If something had happened to Chan's ship...

"Pull them up." 

~

Zuko flinched awake quickly when something hit him in the back of the head. He looked up, and found a ladder dangling down from the deck of a ship. He frowned. There hadn't been a ship there before. 

_Damn it. Must have fallen asleep,_ he thought, a split second before, _oh, crap, that's a Fire Nation warship._

_And they've spotted us,_ he realized. There was no way he could row fast enough to escape. 

"Are you gonna climb up?" an oddly familiar voice said. He couldn't place where he'd heard it before. 

"Uhm —" Zuko searched around, finally picking up Toklo's discarded overshirt and tying it around his neck like a cowl, so that part of it hung over his head and covered his face. "Yeah. Sure." He leaned over, shaking his companions awake. _Damn it, this is just my luck._

"Huh? Whazzamatter?" Jet groaned, looking up. His eyes widened when he spotted the boat. 

"Shit," he said, eloquently summing up the entire situation. 

"Yeah, no kidding." Zuko looked up at the ship, looming over them. 

It didn't loom quite as much as Chan's ship had, though. That was strange, he had thought smaller models had more or less faded into obscurity over the years, but here was one small enough (and barnacle-encrusted enough) that if he didn't know better he'd almost mistake it for the _Wani —_ he pushed _that_ particular stupid comparison out of his mind. 

"We can't get away from here right now, so we need to just play along and not under any circumstances let them know who we are," he instructed over his shoulder as he started climbing the ladder. 

"Sure thing," Toklo affirmed. Jet just grumbled in a way that might have meant anything. Zuko hoped he was agreeing and not saying something like, _'screw you, loser'._

He didn't realize how tired he was until his grip on the ladder's thin metal rungs started slipping. He made an effort to hold on tighter and stay awake. 

"You are not allowed to die right now," he muttered to himself. "You've survived _murder attempts_. To die from falling half-asleep off a ladder would just be _embarrassing."_

He reached the top of the ladder, and a hand reached out to him. He took it and let himself be pulled up onto the deck, before turning to make sure Jet and Toklo were still on their way up. They were, and he breathed a sign of relief, and a little envy that they seemed to be more alert than he was. 

_They're fine. Just keep moving. Don't let them see your face._ He readjusted his improvised hood, helping Toklo up as he reached the top. Well, trying to help. Toklo mostly just climbed up on his own while holding Zuko's hand. Jet didn't even acknowledge Zuko as he climbed up. 

"Come on. You can stay in the spare quarters until morning, then the General wants to ask you some questions," the sailor said. Zuko cursed under his breath. _Of course they have a General. Of course they want to ask questions._

"I'd rather stay on the deck," he said. He wasn't taking the chance of being locked up again. 

"It's cold out."

"We'll be fine," Toklo said firmly. Zuko noticed that before climbing up, Toklo had redone his hair, pulling it all up on his head rather than his usual half-up style. The topknot was a little messy, and his beaded braid was still visible where it was just tucked under his other hair, but it would be fine for now. His undershirt and pants were a nice, not-obviously-Water-Tribe shade of grey. 

"Alright, suit yourself." Zuko still couldn't figure out where he'd heard that voice before. The sailor walked off, shaking her helmeted head. 

"Get some sleep," Toklo said quietly. "I'm keeping watch." 

Zuko wanted to argue, he really did, but his eyes were refusing to stay open, and he felt like he was about to collapse. "Fine." 

~

Teruko strolled over to Iroh with an uneasy expression. 

"They wanted to stay on the deck," she reported. 

That made sense. If they had just escaped a sunken ship, they would not want to be trapped inside any time soon. The lower decks of a ship were often the first to fill with water, and any enclosed space after that could bring up the same feelings. 

"I understand. Make sure they are comfortable, and warm," he instructed. "I would hate for the doctor to have to treat them for hypothermia before I can speak with them."

"Anything else?" 

"Nothing. You're dismissed." 

Teruko bowed and walked off. 

Iroh sighed. He knew the sooner he got the information the better, but he didn't think he could handle hearing it now if they were to deliver the news of Admiral Chan's ship sinking with his nephew on board. He needed a few hours to prepare himself for potential bad news, and the three rescued sailors would surely want a few hours to rest before giving their reports.

He hoped they _weren't_ from Chan's ship. 


	40. 40; 'Zuko, still a moron but less sleep-deprived: hey! this IS my piece of junk ship!'

Zuko awoke to clawed, furry paws walking all over his face, and _giggles_ coming from the Water Tribesman keeping watch. For a minute he thought he was still asleep and dreaming; then a tentacle smacked him in the face and he was _definitely_ awake. 

He sat up quickly, the catopus scurrying down his chest, stomping _right_ on all his sensitive parts as she fled. He winced, the thought that _I didn't know military ships were allowed pets,_ making it past the slight panic racing through him. 

_Maybe it's a superstition or something. The_ Wani _had a catopus too, after all. Maybe it's just a tradition I never heard about._

"Z— um, Lee? You doing okay?" Toklo asked, bumping his shoulder. "You spaced out a little." 

"Fine." He rubbed his face, which still felt fairly decent for having had a catopus walk across it. He looked up at the sky, where the sun was already making its way west. It was almost noon, _way_ later than Zuko had intended to sleep. _Shit._

Zuko sighed and looked over at Jet, who had apparently been awake for a while. He was just...sitting there. Glaring at the deck with dark-circled eyes and chewing his nails. Toklo just looked tense, but he was at least trying to cover it up. 

There were crewmembers milling about, doing whatever it was they were doing. It didn't look like there were any more on this ship than on the _—_

"Someone's coming," Toklo hissed, pulling Zuko's hood up. Zuko stood, tossing off blankets — he hadn't brought _blankets,_ who put those on him? — and straightening his clothes. He was thankful he'd worn his plain brown ones, though he wasn't sure it mattered, with the bright blue cloth hiding his face in shadow. Maybe it could pass for a decorative scarf. 

He swallowed, watching the sailor approach. There was something in the man's gait that looked familiar. 

As the man got closer, Zuko realized _why._

"Lieutenant Jee?" 

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. The sailor stopped short, his face in that same disgruntled/suspicious expression he always had. It looked more on the suspicious side now, and Zuko swore internally. _At least now I know why everything felt so familiar._

"I — I mean, who are you?" he stammered. "I've never met you!" 

The lieutenant just stared at him for a while, his face twitching slightly, before looking up and sighing heavily. 

"Follow me." He turned around and walked back toward the command tower. Zuko glanced back at Toklo and Jet, who both gave slow, wary shakes of their heads. He gave them a thumbs-up that he hoped was reassuring before following Lieutenant Jee. 

_Let's hope this doesn't end in horrible death for me,_ he thought nervously. He was a _lot_ more nervous than before, now that he knew _exactly_ who the General was that the sailor (whose name he didn't know but who he definitely recognized now) had spoken of. 

Zuko was going to see his uncle again.

~

Iroh had sent Jee to fetch all three of their new guests.

Jee was returning with just one, but he had a _very_ good reason for it. 

See, he, like the General, had been under the impression that their guests were Fire Navy soldiers who had managed to escape a shipwreck. Them being the only three in a lifeboat that could have held more indicated that they were either the only survivors or cowards who had abandoned their comrades. 

Then the short one with the scarf had spoken, and _recognized_ Jee, and the pieces fell together. 

The boy's face was still clearly visible even with the 'hood' supposedly there to hide it. That might have worked, were it still nighttime, but the sun was up, and Jee wasn't blind. Nor deaf — he'd heard that voice before. 

The short hair had thrown him. And the scar — Jee had only once seen the Prince's face without the usual heavy bandages, when the boy was unconscious and the doctor was treating the still fresh, bleeding burn. Had it really healed already? 

But the unblemished right side of his face was unmistakable. Despite a slight difference in complexion — and if the boy was doing _work_ on that ship, of course he'd be in the sun — the face was the same. This was, undoubtedly, the Prince. 

And he was doing his best to pretend he hadn't just said Jee's _name._

Jee sighed heavily, looking to the sky. _Whatever spirits are listening, give me strength._

"Follow me," he said, turning and walking back to the command tower. 

General Iroh was going to _flip out._

Hopefully in a good way. He didn't want to stick around if it was in a bad way. 

~

Lieutenant Jee stopped outside a door Zuko knew well, though he had never gone inside the room. Snoring, remember? 

Zuko swallowed, wringing his hands at his sides as the Lieutenant knocked on the door. 

"General Iroh, I've brought your guest." 

The door opened with a familiar metallic _squeak._ Zuko closed his eyes tightly, clenching his fists. 

There was an astonished gasp, a shuffling of footsteps. 

Then strong arms pulled him forward into a tight embrace. He opened his eye a sliver, an ache building up in his chest at the sight of the old, lined face. 

"Uncle," he choked out, his eyes suddenly watery. 

"Zuko," Uncle said, hugging him tighter. Zuko closed his eyes, and wrapped his arms around his Uncle. 

~

The _Akhlut_ swayed gently on the waves as the wind carried it westward. Chief Hakoda stood at the fore, frowning out at the sea. In the distance, one Fire Navy warship was visible on the horizon; also visible, and much closer, was the floating debris from another Fire Navy warship. Obviously anything that hadn't been tied down had floated up; no doubt the rest of the ship was on its way to the ocean floor, if not already there.

There were very few bodies among the detritus. He tried not to let that get his hopes up. 

"What do you think sunk the ship?" Bato asked, leaning over the rail. "We didn't have any boats in the area." 

"No," Hakoda agreed. "Neither did the Earth Kingdom."

"Do you think the engine just...stopped working?" 

"No. It still would have floated, and they'd tow it behind. Something had to do damage to it." Hakoda's frown deepened. 

"They might still be on the other ship," Bato pointed out. He didn't have to say who 'they' were. 

Hakoda sighed. "Yes. They might." 

"You're not gonna give up on them, are you?" Bato asked. Hakoda frowned. 

"No," he said, looking away from the evidence of the wreck. "I'm just tired." 

"No wonder," his friend said. "You've barely slept in a week. Get some rest, I'll keep a lookout."

Hakoda didn't know if he _could_ rest, but Bato was giving him a Look. It was not a _'Let's trick your mom into thinking you're a water spirit'_ Look. This was a _'Take care of yourself before I make you'_ Look. It was an important distinction. 

"Alright," he conceded. "I'll try."

~

Jin sat at the edge of the ship, her legs dangling through the railing. Her ankle still thronged whenever she moved it or put weight on it, so sitting had really been all she could do lately. 

Not that she _wanted_ to do anything else. There was nothing _to_ do — with both her friends gone, plus Jet, who she'd been trying to get to know, the ship was too quiet. 

Too quiet without Zuko snapping at people for messing with his hair. Too quiet without Jet telling the kind of dumb jokes Jin's uncle laughed at. Too quiet without Toklo laughing at said jokes at deafening volumes. 

And too quiet without the rest of the crew joining in on the jokes and the laughing and picking on the youngest crewmates. 

Thinking about it made her hurt deep in her chest. Thinking about the night they were captured brought tears to her eyes. Thinking about what might have happened — if they were at the bottom of the ocean with the sunken ship — made her sick to her stomach. 

She could have _done_ something — _should_ have done something instead of laying there, useless, and throwing little rocks that were useless against thick steel armor. Should have ignored the pain and stood up and grabbed Toklo's broken spear and ran after the firebenders who'd taken her friends. 

She hadn't. And now they were _gone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's really hit the lottery with Uncle Iroh. When I see MY uncle after months and months he just mimics everything I say in a Donald Duck voice. 
> 
> Anyway, this brings Volume II to a close. I'll be posting Volume III in a couple days, so I suggest subscribing to the series if you haven't already so you don't miss it. It might not be as long as this one or the first, but it's important, and I don't want the chapters piling up too much here. 
> 
> I'm still taking title suggestions by the way! My requests are:
> 
> -Musical theatre lyrics  
> -Preferably related to a theme of family, friendship, or acceptance  
> -Short enough that the title doesn't get too wordy
> 
> Thanks!


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